Changing Fate
by Advent of Shadows
Summary: Sometimes, things don't work out in the end. Hyōdō Mordred learned that personally. Watching as his loved ones and the world around him fell to ruin, he decided to take matters into his own hands. What is a magician but one who rewrites reality? But to save those he cares about, his only choice is to travel back to where it all began and try not to kill his teenage father.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Sometimes, things don't work out in the end. Hyōdō Mordred learned that personally. Watching as his loved ones and the world around him fell to ruin, he decides to take matters into his own hands. After all, what is a magician but one who rewrites reality? But to save those he cares about, his only choice is to travel back to where it all began and try not to kill his teenage father along the way.

Pairing: Mordred/Kuroka/Lavinia

Warnings: This story will contain explicit content of an adult nature. It is High School DxD, so this should be expected. This story will also contain time travel, though I'd hope that would've been obvious already.

Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD.

* * *

**Chapter One**

Hyōdō Mordred stepped gingerly beneath the broken pillar, careful not to even breathe on it. His movements were smooth yet cautious. It had been ages since this place had come to ruin, unlike the rest of the world.

As unfortunate as it was, he could not risk actually using his magic in any serious way as he navigated the ruined Persian castle. The last thing he needed was to attract the Endless to this place before he secured his prize.

It was only when he reached the altar that he allowed himself to feel hope. It was flush against the stone wall with a high back that reached the ceiling and had three large dragon heads extending from it. To most, it would have appeared to be a dead end, but it was exactly what he had been searching for.

Taking a deep breath, he approached the altar and found a rune-engraved tablet just below the dragon heads. Dust coated every inch of the tablet, but the thirteen runes were easy to see. Tracing each rune in the proper sequence, the altar began to rumble. Even the slightest error in the patter would have resulted in a fate worse than death.

Slowly, the altar sunk into the floor. It was fortunate that the ambient magic of the ruins was capable of masking small spells. Without that, teleporting to the ruins and activating the Evil Dragon's altar would have spelled doom for him. A hidden doorway sat behind where the altar had been moments earlier. Passing through it, there was yet another altar, but this one was different.

Unlike the large altar that had been placed to hide this room, the new one was small- only a few feet tall with a mere square foot of space atop it. Like the previous one, it was decorated with imagery of a three headed dragon with six wings, but it was not the altar that he sought. Rather, it was what lay atop the altar.

Reaching for it, he grasped the ancient grimoire, pushing down the revulsion that threatened to overwhelm him as his fingers brushed against the cover. Human skin had a rather distinctive feel to it.

A moment later, a dark curse flowed from the grimoire, but it could not find purchase. The empty scabbard at his hip began to glow at once, its holy aura repelling the dark influence. Even so, the curse still remained within the tome until he lifted it from the altar, at which point it faded completely. According to Mordred's research, all who had tried to recover the grimoire had fallen to the curse. But unlike him, they did not have access to the scabbard of the legendary Excalibur.

"You are truly a piece of work," he muttered grimly as he wrapped the grimoire of Aži Dahāka in a sheet of red cloth and put it away.

Once the tome of forbidden magic was secured, a magic circle formed beneath his feet. Without even a second's hesitation, Modred teleported back to his quarters..

A sigh escaped the magician's lips when he realized that he was not alone.

Standing before him with crossed arms was one of his older sisters, Helmwige. With her stern blue eyes, long silver hair in a single braid, and crimson Valkyrie armor, there was no mistaking her for anyone else.

"Really? Sneaking out again. I seem to recall telling you the next time, I would let Airi know." Helmwige glared at him fiercely.

Mordred just sighed. "Really? Threatening me with our big sister isn't going to make me less rebellious." His mother had always said that he inherited more than just the name of his ancestor, after all. "If you really want to tell her, go right ahead. Do you really think I'd have Zen's scabbard if Airi didn't know?"

Helmwige actually hesitated at that, her gaze lingering on the scabbard in question. "Airi wouldn't let you leave. None of us are supposed to leave Headquarters without permission from Mother Rias."

To that, he just snorted. "Helmwige, I'm not a soldier, and Rias is not my boss. I'm not exactly the obedient kind. But if it means that much to you, I promise I will be a good little boy and stay in my room."

With a huff, Helmwige spun on her heel and left. A twinge of remorse filled him as she departed. Of his ten siblings, she had always been the one he was closest to, but ever since her mother's death, her overprotectiveness had started more arguments between them than they ever had before.

A few minutes later, his eldest sister walked through the door. Looking so much like his favorite step mother, it was easy to forget just how dangerous Airi was. Among all of the Red Dragon Emperor's children, her strength was unparalleled. Only Ex came close to matching her.

"Mordred," the daughter of Asia Argento greeted with a conspiratory smile. "I trust you haven't been up to anything too exciting tonight."

"Not at all," Mordred said as he removed Excalibur's scabbard from his hip and handed it to her. "Thanks sis. I doubt Zen would've let me borrow that without your assistance."

Airi's smile faded for just a moment before it returned full force. "Just be careful, Mordred. I'd hate to see anything happen to you."

A warmth spread in his chest at that. Ever since his mother's death, it was not the most common sensation. "I'll try, but fixing things isn't going to be safe."

Airi turned away from him at that. "I know. But I've already lost too much. I couldn't bear to lose you too."

Mordred looked down at that. His mother, Le Fay Pendragon, had certainly not been the only one that the family had lost recently. Six of his step-mothers- Ingvild Leviathan, Elmenhilde Karnstein, Xenovia Quarta, Shidō Irina, Shirone, and Rossweisse- had all fallen in recent years. And for all he knew, his father might be dead too. It had been three years since he had even seen the man.

Shaking his head, Mordred shut the door and locked it before removing the grimoire of Aži Dahāka. Of the evil dragon's grimoires, this one alone was said to contain the forbidden spells related to space and time.

With this, he could fix everything.

* * *

For six months, Mordred had made no effort to leave Headquarters, as much as he hated the place. As the last refuge of mankind and the various mythologies of Earth, it always felt crowded and loud. Helmwige and Airi seemed pleased with his decision not to leave, but they had no idea it was all in the pursuit of forbidden magic.

Learning everything within the grimoire was beyond the scope of his abilities. There were a few spells in the tome that he had studied, but many of them were so vile that he never wanted to use them. In fact, there was only one spell that he truly wish to use.

At some point in the past, Ajuka Beelzebub came up with a formula that made time travel theoretically possible, but that method of time travel was susceptible to paradoxes. Anyone who used that formula could never have changed the timeline without erasing themselves from existence, becoming trapped in an endless temporal loop, or becoming entangled in one of countless other horrific scenarios.

Aži Dahāka's formula for time travel was different. It was a forbidden spell because it broke the laws of time travel. The spell was capable of removing its caster from the timeline and inserting them within a new one. Of all the beings to study time magic, only that dragon had discovered the calculations necessary to prevent paradoxes. Considering Aži Dahāka's role in what happened to the world, using one of his spells to fix everything seemed fitting.

When the appointed day came, Mordred traveled to the area beneath Headquarters. Back when the place was still known as Kuō Town, the place doubled as an emergency shelter and a train station to the Underworld. Now, it was mostly used for training and storing supplies.

In a barren room in the depths of the underground, Mordred carefully drew a magic circle with a mixture of ink and blood. The circle itself was the most complex of any he had ever used- truly a creation of the evil dragon whose skill with magic exceeded imagination.

Once finished, Mordred stood at the center of the circle and closed his eyes.

As much as he wished otherwise, he had not said his farewells to any of his brothers and sisters. It was easier this way, he supposed. Still, it did not make things any easier. To even imagine a world with Airi, Helmwige, or Kurenai, his favorite brother, was painful beyond measure. Even so, what he did now was necessary, even if it prevented his siblings from ever existing.

"Forgive me for being such a poor brother." The magic circle beneath him thrummed with power as he activated it. The faces of his four brothers and six sisters flashed before his eyes. To think he would never get to see any of the again, even Ex and Robertina, filled him with sorrow. "But sometimes, the world comes first."

A moment later, all sense of reality faded. The ground seemed to give way, yet there was no sensation of falling. Opening his eyes, Mordred found that his sense of smell, hearing, and even sight could register nothing. And then unconsciousness took him.

* * *

There was something about research and experimentation that Azazel always found liberating. Only within his workshop- a place as impregnable as could be found in all of the Underworld- could he truly be fulfilled. With what appeared to be a spear-shaped dagger in his hands and classical music playing in the background, Azazel could only grin.

The Downfall Dragon Spear Prototype Mark Seventeen had finally reached its completion. Would it work as intended? Personally, Azazel was doubtful of that, but there was no such thing as failure to a true researcher, so long as he learned something from the experience.

His elation came to a halt when his phone began to ring. Setting the Artificial Sacred Gear down and turning off the music, he answered the phone. "Azazel speaking."

"I have business with you, Governor-General of the Grigori. I'll be waiting for you in the underground of Kuō. Consider this a matter of life and death."

Without waiting for a response from Azazel, the individual on the other end- a young man if the voice was any indication- hung up.

Normally, Azazel would have wrote the call off as a prank or a trap, but his phone number was not something that just anyone could get. It was a private line, known to no one but the other leaders of the Grigori. Furthermore, he had already changed it since Satanael's betrayal to the Grigori.

"Hmm, he didn't actually tell me to come alone," Azazel noted as he pocketed his Artificial Sacred Gear and rose to his feet. "Perhaps Slash Dog should come with me."

He would have summoned Vali to come with him, but it really didn't seem like a good idea. Vali was too headstrong and his love for fighting was too strong.

* * *

Azazel and Ikuse Tobio arrived in Kuō a short while later, the brown haired Longinus wielder moving silently and alert.

It was certainly risky, passing through the territory of Sirzechs Lucifer's sister, but Azazel was unconcerned. Sensing the locations of the devils of Kuō while masking his own presence was a rather simple matter.

"Perhaps I should visit that boy Raynare's keeping an eye on," Azazel mused as the entered Kuō's secret underground. "If he really is the Red Dragon Emperor, it may make for an interesting meeting."

Tobio looked troubled by that tidbit of information. "Are you sure it's wise to trust her to keep an eye on a possible Longinus user? She never struck me as the most stable of your subordinates."

"I didn't tell her that's what I thought he had," Azazel laughed, waving Tobio off. "I just asked her to determine if his Sacred Gear has been awakened. I'm sure she wouldn't be stupid enough to kill a Sacred Gear possessor without orders." Given his obsession with Sacred Gears, none of his underlings would expect to be rewarded for killing possessors off unnecessarily.

The two walked in silence after that until they found they found a young man with short blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a white three-piece suit with blue accents. His face looked unnaturally pale and his breathing was labored, though it appeared he was trying not to let it show.

"Governor-General, I see you brought Slash Dog with you," the man said as he approached them. "I'd ask that you send your guard out of the room, but if it's that guy, I trust he can keep his mouth shut."

Azazel chuckled at that. "Yeah, Slash Dog is pretty good at keeping secrets, I'd say."

"Then I guess there's no beating around the bush. I am Hyōdō Mordred, youngest son of the current Red Dragon Emperor, Hyōdō Issei. I am from approximately thirty years into the future."

Azazel took those words in stride, not nearly as surprised as he perhaps should have been. Time travel was not such an impossible feat, after all. It wouldn't be strange if in thirty years, one of the Three Biblical Factions or one of the many magician associations devised a method for traveling through time.

Personally, he had long ago resolved never to set a foot into such a field out of fear of perverting history.

Slash Dog, on the other hand, was unable to maintain the same level of composure. "Time travel? Seriously? I've heard of some crazy stuff, but…."

"It's not the craziest thing I've seen or heard," Azazel assured him. Over the thousands of years he had been alive, the fallen angel had witnessed more than he fair share of insanity. "But that does beg the question of what you're doing here, Mordred. Somehow, I don't think you traveled back in time and asked me to come here just for an experiment."

"Not an experiment," Mordred said, flinching a bit as he walked. "I'm here because I need to change the future. In less than one year from now, Rizevim Lucifer will set into motion the release of Trihexa."

"Well, shit," Azazel muttered. Compared to that, time travel really wasn't all that noteworthy at all.

Rizevim Lucifer was certainly a pain in the ass back in the day. The son of the original Lucifer and Lilith had been the first transcendent-class devil in history, a so-called Super Devil. With his unique ability to cancel Sacred Gears, the man was dangerous. It was only his lack of ambition that kept him as a footnote in history.

But Trihexa was another matter altogether. There was a reason the Three Biblical Factions insisted that Trihexa did not even exist. The Beast of Revelations was an existence whose only equals were the Dragon God of Infinity and True Dragon of Dreams. It had taken the full might of Azazel's Father to seal away Trihexa, and such an effort had left him permanently weakened, resulting in his death during the Great War.

Slash Dog did not know anything about Trihexa, but Azazel could tell from a glance that the young man understood what it was just from the name.

"Trihexa was not free for long before you and the leaders of essentially every other faction decided to imprison it and seal it away in another dimension with all of you inside, but that was a temporary measure only," Mordred continued. "In the end, it only worked for twenty years before it escaped once again. In my time, there has been more death than you can imagine. Among all species and factions, we number no more than five thousand, and it's just a matter of time before that number dwindles to zero."

Azazel closed his eyes. Just picturing such a situation was horrifying. "And you think you can change the future? I'm pretty sure the first law of time travel is that you can't change the future without causing a paradox. If the future doesn't happen the way it did for you, then you would have had no reason to come back to the past."

In answer, Mordred showed him an old book, and everything clicked into place.

"No wonder you don't look well. Aži Dahāka's grimoires are filled with spells that should never be used." Only a truly desperate man would have ever considered using forbidden spells of that caliber.

Mordred laughed quietly at that. "I'll recover in time. But as you can see, I'm not bound by the conventional rules of time travel. Still, I'm going to need some help if I'm going to prevent the fate that befell my world. Will you help me, Azazel?"

"Of course. Just tell me what you need."

* * *

After the pair left, it took all of Mordred's willpower not to collapse to the ground. From the beginning, he knew that Aži Dahāka's forbidden spells were forbidden for a reason. He was merely an ultimate-class magician, not a transcendent-class one like Aži Dahāka, so the backlash of the time travel spell was far more intense than it should have been.

It had been risky, meeting with Azazel in his condition. If the fallen angel had decided that he was a threat, he could have easily captured him without putting forth any semblance of effort. The meeting had gone as well as it could have, at least. Azazel would fabricate a past for him thoroughly enough that he could enroll at Kuō Academy if he so chose, with the Gremory family being none the wiser that he was not who he claimed to be. The money and information Azazel had agreed to supply him with was just a bonus.

But for now, Mordred needed to keep a low profile until he fully recovered. With that in mind, he made his way out of the Kuō underground and made his way towards a hotel. Being in Kuō Town was a strange experience. The overall layout of the town was the same as in the future, but the town was far busier than Headquarters ever was. The lack of grim faces was certainly a refreshing change of pace though.

As coincidence would have it, Mordred did not manage to reach the hotel he had chosen for his destination without walking past a familiar figure. Hyōdō Issei was walking in his direction with two boys the same age. It took a considerable amount of effort not to sigh when he heard the three boys talking about breasts in public.

From a glance, Mordred was certain that his father had not yet become a devil at this point in time. From what little he could piece together in the future, he had not become one until the second week of April, so there was still a week until then.

As much as he wished otherwise, he could not interfere this early in the timeline. His father's death at Raynare's hands, subsequent reincarnation by Rias Gremory, and his initial reactions with Asia Argento were essential. Watching them happen and making sure some hidden variable did not change them too much was all he could do. Hyōdō Issei may have played a crucial role in the revival of Trihexa, albeit unwillingly, but if Mordred changed too much so early on, it could render all his knowledge of the future useless. Such a change was too risky. It was why he had asked Azazel and Slash Dog to let Raynare's group handle things without interference from either of them. The idea that his father would not be spared pain as a result was just a perk.

Once he passed the group, Mordred glanced back, directing a glare at the past self of his father. "You never change, do you?" So focused on his perversions, Hyōdō Issei had ended up with thirteen wives. With such a large harem and the duties he had amassed in the future, not a single one of his children had truly come to know him.

Continuing on to the hotel, Mordred could only hope that his father did not get into any trouble before his powers had recovered enough to keep an eye on him. Until then, he was on his own.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Even two weeks later, Mordred was still only at a fraction of his strength. He was not as defenseless as he had been, but it still felt as though Uncle Vali had hit him with a few Divides. Still, he had recovered enough strength to monitor things around town with his magic.

So far, things had progressed a bit strangely. If not for him actually traveling to the park where his father was to be killed by Raynare in advance, things would have already changed in a fundamental way. His father did not have one of Rias Gremory's leaflets when Raynare struck him down, resulting in Mordred summoning Rias in his stead. Fortunately, she had not seen him and likely assumed the dying Issei had been the one to do so somehow.

The sequence of events left him puzzled even now. His interactions with those of the new timeline were limited to Azazel and Slash Dog. There was no way his actions should have already caused a change.

Still, everything seemed to be corrected now. Encountering a fallen angel who thought he was a stray devil, discovering that he had died and was reincarnated by Rias Gremory as a devil, meeting Asia Argento, coming face to face with a stray devil for the first time, and meeting the insane Siegfried clone named Freed Sellzen… it had all progressed correctly from what information he had pieced together. But the most crucial incident was still ahead, and it was the single one that he was the most anxious about.

For that reason, Mordred had stopped observing from a distance and showed up at the Kuō Town's abandoned church shortly after Raynare attacked his father for the second time. Asia's death at the hands of Raynare by the Sacred Gear Extractor was not something that was easy to stomach.

For as long as he could remember, he had never called Rias Gremory, Himejima Akeno, Xenovia Quarta, Shidō Irina, Ingvild Leviathan, Elmenhilde Karnstein, Ravel Phenex, Shirone, Kuroka, Rossweisse, and Kunō by anything but their names. Hyōdō Asia, on the other hand, had always been Mother Asia.

For that reason, he owed it to her to personally intervene and make sure she was unharmed.

When his father, an unfamiliar pre-pubescent girl with short white hair, and a young Kiba Yūto showed up at the church Mordred showed himself.

"Huh? Who are you?" Issei asked, nervously while the girl looked ready to punch him and a sword appeared in the Knight's hand.

"Less talking and more moving," Mordred said, walking towards the entrance of the church. "If you wish to save Asia Argento, we need to hurry. We can play twenty questions afterwards."

Knowing the Kiba Yūto, he was going to be watched carefully for now, but at his current strength, this was the best option.

"Fine," Issei said, following behind him with little hesitation. "But you've got some explaining to do later."

"Agreed," Mordred said as he lifted a hand towards the church's entrance. A magic circle appeared on the doors and they sprung open. From behind him, Issei let out a gasp of shock, but it was soon drowned out by the sound of someone clapping.

As they passed through the entryway, a single figure stepped out from behind one of the pillars inside the church, clapping his hands. "Wow, this is a first. I've never met the same devil twice before, you know? I'm super strong and usually cut devils into pieces when I first meet them. You see, I just can't help but cut them up on the spot. That's how I used to live! But since you guys ruined my style, I'm so lost! Seriously, you guys piss me off! I hope you all die! Trashy devils, go die!" His expression was a mix of joy, sadness, and rage as he took out a gun and a sword hilt. A blade of light erupted from the handle of the latter.

"You guys came to rescue Asia, didn't you? Who knew devils could be so big hearted and come to rescue a bitch that heals even devils? Well, she's going to die anyways!"

"Hey, where is Asia?" Issei demanded.

"There's a hidden stairway under that alter." The stray exorcist actually pointed to the altar in the room with his gun as he spoke. "From there, you can go to the place where they are doing the ritual."

Moving forward, Issei yelled, "Sacred Gear," and a red gauntlet appeared on his left hand. At a glance, Mordred would have not even realized that it was _Boosted Gear_, had he not been so intimately familiar with Ddraig's aura.

"Swordsman, can you and the girl handle him while the Pawn and I continue onward to rescue the girl?" Mordred asked, looking to Kiba Yūto. Conflict raged in the Knight's eyes before he nodded his head in agreement.

"You're not getting past me," Freed Sellzen laughed as he charged towards them. He was forced to jump back, however, when a pew was literally thrown at him.

"Get smashed," the petite white haired girl said in an almost robotic way..

Before he recovered, Mordred placed a hand on Issei's shoulder and the two vanished, only to reappear directly in front of the altar. Mordred pushed it to the side with little effort, revealing the staircase.

"We don't have time to get caught up in their fight." With that said, Mordred rushed down the stairs, Issei following him.

Beyond the stairs, they reached a long passage with doors on both sides of the wall.

"It should be at the end of the passage," Mordred told him, a large door in his sights. "There's bound to be stray exorcists and fallen angels inside, so be ready."

"Right!" In that moment, there was a look of resolve on Issei's face. It was very reminiscent of the man that people told stories of in the future.

Bursting through the door, Mordred came to a stop. Asia Argento was strapped to a cross-shaped mechanism. Standing before her was the fallen angel Raynare and a number of priests with blades of light, just like Freed Sellzen had wielded.

"Asia!" Issei yelled.

"Issei?" the nun asked weakly.

"Yeah, I've come to save you!"

"How touching," Raynare scoffed. "But it's too late. You won't be able to get through my forces before the ritual is complete."

Her declaration was punctuated with a scream from Asia.

Something snapped in Mordred at the sight. He lifted his hands and dozens of small magic circles appeared. In an instant, magic bullets shot from them and all of the priests collapsed, blood flowing from between their eyes. Asia Argento fell from Sacred Gear Extractor moments later, the chains that bound her to it severed by the same assault that had killed the stray exorcists.

As Asia touched the ground, a magic circle appeared beneath her and she was sent directly behind Mordred.

"How?" Raynare could only look around in shock at what happened.

"Pawn of Rias Gremory, I leave the fallen angel to you. I'm going to need to focus on your friend so I can stabilize her Sacred Gear. The timing was a little close for comfort."

There was no hesitation as Issei rushed forward to meet Raynare. He only had one thing to say about it. "Call me Ise. It's the least I can do for helping me."

Picking the exhausted girl up, Mordred carried her upstairs and was greeted with the sight of the other two devils heading that way. Freed Sellzen was nowhere to be seen.

"He's fighting the fallen angel down there. Stay with me or go and check on him… I really don't care. I need to take care of this girl."

In the end, Kiba Yūto went downstairs while the girl stayed with him, but Mordred did not spare her another look. Instead, he laid Asia on one of the pews and summoned a magic circle.

"Thank you," Asia said, softly. "I thought I was going to…."

"You're fine now," Mordred reassured her. Stabilizing a Sacred Gear after a failed extraction was not something that necessarily had to be done, in all honesty. At most, she would have had some issues using Twilight Healing for a few weeks before it stabilized itself, but he saw no reason to make her go through such a period unnecessarily when he knew that spell.

"How is she?"

That voice made Mordred freeze. Rias Gremory was standing next to the pew, looking down at Asia. The Rias Gremory of now and of thirty years into the future did not look much different. The only real difference was clothes, though she seemed to also carry a more innocent aura.

"She'll be fine," Mordred said, making eye contact. "We halted the ritual just in time."

"I see." At that, Rias showed a kind smile. "I'm glad. We may not be on the same side, but I would have been distressed to hear of her death."

It was hard to believe that this was the same woman that spent years ordering him around and berating him every time he and Ex got into a fight. But then again, it wasn't, he realized. This wasn't the Rias Gremory he knew, no matter how much they looked alike. This was the Gremory heiress in her youth, before she lost her older brother and was overwhelmed with stress.

"I should thank you for helping my cute servants, but I'm going to need to know who you are and what brings you to my territory," Rias continued a moment later, her smile suddenly predatory. "But for now, I need to go check on Ise. I'd appreciate it if you did not leave until after we have our talk."

"I'll be waiting," he assured her.

Himejima Akeno stayed behind when Rias went to check on his Issei. Like Rias, she looked no different than she had in the future, but Akeno's aura made her feel less approachable.

"Not going to go anywhere, are you?" she asked, a hint of warning in her tone.

"That would defeat the point of getting her attention, now would it?" Mordred answered easily, his lips curving into a smirk. "Though, if I wanted to leave, I can assure you that you wouldn't be able to stop me."

"Is that so?" she asked, challenge clear in her face.

He did not answer her though, merely turning back to Asia, whose eyes were closed. She had apparently fallen asleep at some point, too exhausted from the ritual. Looking down at her, he fought the urge to pinch himself when he noticed how underdeveloped her body was in comparison to her future self. Well, at least one of the past versions of his step-mothers did not look the exact same.

"You smell of dragon."

That voice… Mordred recognized it. The almost monotone she spoke in made it almost unrecognizable, but the voice itself was not so easy to forget. With her white hair and amber eyes, perhaps he should have placed her sooner, but the girl that had accompanied him inside the church looked like a twelve-year old. Putting the word _flat_ in the same sentence as Shirone was just wrong.

Perhaps it was for the better that she looked so unlike her future self. Unlike the others, she was dead in his future. Seeing her walking around just fine after attending her funeral would have been even harder than reconciling the wildly different versions of Shirone.

"I smell of dragon?" he asked, to which she nodded. "I guess you could say I've got a little dragon in me." She just stared at him before looking away, apparently satisfied with the response.

A short while later, Rias Gremory, Kiba Yūto, and Hyōdō Issei came up the stairs, with an unconscious and bound Raynare. Well, that was certainly a surprise to Mordred. Why didn't they kill her? He did not have time to puzzle things out before Rias spoke.

"It would seem that this night turned out better than it had any right to. But it's not over. I'm going to need to know what exactly you're doing here."

"Ah, I believe an introduction is in order, in that case," Mordred said as he stood up and approached her. "My name is Mordred Pendragon, and I'm here to make a pact with you."

"Pendragon?" It was hard to tell who all said the name, though only the Knight looked angry as he said it.

"I am a magician of _that_ Pendragon family. And while I was named after my ancestor, I'm not a swordsman, so I won't be entertaining any sword duels." At that, he looked at Kiba. His misplaced hatred for Excalibur in his youth was something Mordred had heard firsthand from the man in the future. "I expected that I would have to approach you at your school, but this works well enough. I helped to save an innocent young woman, and I get to meet my intended contractor in one night."

"Pendragon? What's he talking about?" Mordred dropped his shoulders with a sigh and adopted a downcast expression. Hearing the man that would be his father not even recognize the surname of King Arthur was just painful.

"Pendragon is a noble family from England. It's said that they are direct descendants from King Arthur. Their members are among the greatest magicians and swordsmen in the world," Rias explained, looking to Issei. "But why should I form a pact with you, Mordred Pendragon? I've never even heard of you."

"You wouldn't have. My mother was a Pendragon. My father was not. As a result, I'm not exactly part of the main family," Mordred confessed with a small smile. "But it's fine if you don't want to form a pact with me. I'm sure that I can convince the younger sister of Leviathan to deal with me. After all, not everyone knows how to seal the regeneration of a Phenex."

Rias grew still at that. "Now, don't be so hasty. That being said, I don't believe this is the best venue to discuss our pact. If you will meet me at Kuoh Academy tomorrow evening, I will gladly discuss terms."

He could have laughed at that. Who would have thought the spell he devised for fighting Robertina would have caused such a reaction? Once again, he wished that the family had not glossed over so many details of their youth. It was only thanks to Azazel's information that he knew Rias was unwillingly engaged to a Phenex.

"I will be there. It was a pleasure meeting you and your servants, Rias Gremory." Strangely, it was not as much of a lie as he intended it to be. "In the meantime, I have places to be." As he spoke those words, a magic circle formed beneath his feet and he disappeared from sight.

* * *

Rias Gremory slumped into her chair in the Occult Research Club room that night after her peerage left, excluding Akeno. The past couple weeks had been trying. Between fallen angels, her new servant, a stray devil, and the mysterious magician, the stress was getting to her.

"Rias, are you sure meeting with that magician is a good idea?"

She looked at her best friend at that. It was rare that Akeno questioned her decisions.

"Not really," she admitted. Mordred Pendragon was an unknown entity, and one that had intruded in her territory without alerting her. Ise's description of the magician's one sided slaughter beneath the church was telling. No novice magician could have created dozens of magic circles and simultaneously taken down thirty stray exorcists.

Even so, she had planned on refusing his request for a pact if not for his claim of being able to seal the regeneration of a Phenex.

"I can't let the opportunity pass me by. I need to see if he's telling the truth."

"That won't be easy to confirm," Akeno pointed out. "We can't exactly test whatever this spell is. Not unless you want _him_ to know about your trump card, at least."

That had not occurred to her. It would need to be considered and brought up when she met with the mysterious magician.

"And what do you plan on doing with _her_?" Akeno asked after a moment of silence. The vitriol she put into that one word made a chill run down her spine.

"I'm not sure what fate awaits the fallen angel. For now, she is in Grayfia's custody, but I considered offering her freedom as my Bishop."

Akeno froze at those words and shot a betrayed look at Rias.

"I don't want to. I don't trust her in the least," she assured Akeno. "But if things continue as expected and I have to fight Riser in a mock Rating Game, it may be necessary. A fallen angel's powers of light would raise my chances against him." She looked down, knowing Akeno would be hurt by those words. After all, Raynare was not the only one with those powers. "But if the Pendragon comes through, I won't need her."

How callous could she be? Raynare was not the kind of servant she wanted. She was vile, and a traitor to her kind if her compatriots were to be believed. Even desperate as she was, the thought of taking that woman into her peerage left a bitter taste in her mouth. If not for Issei's request that she be spared, Rias would have destroyed her.

"How did Ise fair against her?" Akeno's voice was even softer than before.

"He did very well." Her lips curved into a smile. "Our theory was correct. He is the Red Dragon Emperor." It was unfortunate she had not considered the possibility of him holding such a formidable Sacred Gear before he became a Devil. If he had been recruited right after entering Kuō Academy, he would likely be even stronger than Akeno by now.

A Longinus, a fallen angel, and a magician… at present, each presented a possible way out of the bleak future her parents were intent on sending her to. For the sake of her freedom, she could not discount any of them.

* * *

The following night, Mordred sat across from Rias in the old school building on Kuō Academy's campus. It was actually a somewhat familiar location for both. He had spent his fair time there in the future. Taking a sip of the tea Akeno had prepared, he nodded appreciatively. It was perhaps a bit too bitter for his tastes, but it would not do to be impolite.

"Tell me, Mordred, where are you from?" Rias asked as she set her tea cup down, trying a little too hard to seem casual.

"I was born here, actually. In Japan, that is." Even so, he had actually spent the first few years of his life in England while his mother handled some business with the Golden Dawn. "I never joined any kind of association though. It was never really my style." Not that there were any magician associations left after Trihexa ravaged the world and the Endless invaded.

"I see."

"How about we get to the heart of the matter," Mordred suggested out of a mixture of impatience and bemusement. She was not going to get anything useful out of him at the rate she was going. "I want to form a pact with you. To be more specific, I want access to the Underworld and some information. In return, I will provide you with a method to defeat your fiance should you have to face him in a Rating Game." That was, apparently, the method most devils used to get out of unwilling engagements these days.

"You want two things, yet you only offer one in turn," Rias asked, leaning forward. "Not exactly equivalent exchange, now is it?"

Mordred actually laughed at that. She was a better negotiator than he gave her credit for, that much was certain. "I'm impressed. Alright, I'll throw something in. It's actually the formula for a spell you saw me use on Asia Argento."

That caught Rias and Akeno off guard.

"You correct the effects of the extraction ritual, correct?" Rias asked, confusion evident in her tone.

"I stabilized her Sacred Gear. The spell was not made for failed extractions, though it does work for those as well." Still, neither devil was understanding what he was getting at. Apparently, he needed to be more direct. "That spell was created for those born with Sacred Gears that were incompatible with their bodies. If you stabilize the Sacred Gear within such a person, you can save their life. You may not find such a spell to be useful to you, personally, but I have it on good authority that Rudiger Rosenkreutz would give anything for such a formula."

Once again, it proved that Mordred's future knowledge was actually considerably limited. He knew from Azazel that Rudiger Rosenkreutz, the seventh ranked King of the Rating Games, had a son with a Sacred Gear that was slowly killing him. He did not know, however if the boy had died or survived in the original timeline.

"That's fair." If anything, Rias sounded a little subdued now. Apparently, such an idea had never occurred to her. "But I can't agree to anything without proof your spells will do what you say they will, and I can't exactly test the anti-Phenex spell you have without revealing a possible trump card in advance."

At that, he rolled his eyes. "I was suggesting a provisional pact. I provide you with what is promised, and on the honor of your name, you swear to fulfill your end once you've seen that I did not fail to deliver."

"Oh," Rias said, her cheeks flushing ever so slightly. "In that case, I'm willing. However, I need to know the nature of the information you seek before I accept. I can't exactly agree to a term that isn't clearly defined."

"It's nothing major. I just need information on the location of a certain battle from the Great War."

"In that case, I'm willing to accept the terms of a provisional pact. And should you fulfill your end, I'm willing for our pact to last one year's time with the option of renewal."

"Sounds fine to me." Mordred extended a hand and they shook on it. Once they broke the exchanged, he said, "Now, if you get me a notebook and something to write with, I'll provide you with the formula for stabilizing Sacred Gears."

A single look from Rias was all it took to get Akeno to fetch what he asked for.

"And the anti-Phenex spell?" Rias pressed.

"Inform your clients that you will not be able to fulfill requests as frequently for a little while and gather your peerage tomorrow night. My promise was that I'd provide you a method of winning a rating game with your fiance. I'll give you the formula I mentioned, but that alone isn't going to guarantee a win. So starting tomorrow, I'm going to be assisting you in training your peerage."

Akeno arrived moments later with the notebook and nothing more was said as he began to write out the formula for the first spell.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The following night, Mordred arrived at the Occult Research Club room. As requested, Rias had gathered her peerage, but there was someone else present that was very much human. Asia Argento was standing next to Issei. He knew that she was living with Issei just like in the original timeline, but that did not mean he expected her to come with him.

"Asia is here in case anyone gets hurt during training," Rias explained, no doubt seeing his gaze.

He nodded a bit absently at that and looked at the members of her peerage. Himejima Akeno, Kiba Yūto, Shirone, and Hyōdō Issei were known factors to him, but it seemed that there was someone missing.

"Don't you have a Bishop?" She should have reincarnated Gasper Vladi well before Issei.

Rias actually looked surprised by the question. That was more than likely not common knowledge, Mordred realized. "I do, but by order of the higher-ups, he was sealed away inside another room in this building. He won't be able to train with us."

Once again, Mordred fought to suppress a migraine. Why did no one bother to tell him stuff like this when they told him stories about their adventures? First, no one ever mentioned Rias being engaged to Riser Phenex. There wasn't even mention of a Rating Game with him, though it appeared that was going to happen in the near future. And then, no one ever mentioned anything about Gasper prior to the meeting of the Three Biblical Factions that led to the Kuō Treaty, outside of how Rias found and reincarnated him with a mutation piece.

It really would have been easier if he had approached Ajuka or Gasper in the future and asked them for information before traveling to the past. Arthur's knowledge had been woefully lacking.

"So what's going on, Buchō?" Issei asked, looking between her and Mordred.

"I haven't discussed it in detail with all of you, but I'm in an arranged marriage with the third son of the Phenex family. Like the Gremory, they are another noble family among devils," Rias explained, a hint of a scowl twisting her features. Issei's face matched hers rather well in that moment. "It was set up by my parents without my consent, but there will be a chance to get out of it in the coming year. I should have until after I graduate before they try to force things… however, there's no telling if they'll try to move things up. As part of our pact, Mordred will be assisting me in training you so if a Rating Game does happen, we will stand a chance."

"What's a Rating Game?"

Mordred shot Rias a long-suffering look at that, to which she merely ignored. He tuned her out as she explained what a Rating Game was to Issei. Instead, he looked at the other devils.

What he knew about Shirone's past couldn't even fill a thimble, but it was clear from the cold, clinical way she spoke that she had been traumatized at some point in the past. Perhaps it had something to do with her sister. Though he had only met her a few times before her death, Kuroka's past as a stray devil had come up in the stories his mother shared with him.

On the other hand, he knew a bit more about Kiba. In general, the Hyōdō children were closer to Kiba Yūto than their own father, but Mordred was not nearly as close to the man as his siblings were. He wasn't Zen or Shin, who had trained under him as swordsman. In fact, his refusal to pursue swordsmanship had been a point of disagreement between them. Even so, Kiba had told him all about his misplaced blame and outright hatred for holy swords in general and Excalibur in particular.

Himejima Akeno was another matter entirely. Among all of his stepmothers, the only one that Mordred had been more distant with was Rias. Rias, Akeno, and Asia were his father's favorites. If it wasn't impossible to dislike Asia, he might have been distant with her as well. But as a result of them being his father's favorites and their authoritative treatment towards him, he had never bothered to really get to know the other two. Even so, he had been close to her son, Kurenai. His eldest brother had once mentioned that Akeno had once hated fallen angels with a passion, including herself.

All three of them had deep rooted problems, and yet Rias had not really helped any of them overcome their issues in years they had been with her.

At last, he looked to Issei. Mordred knew that he was too bias against the man the boy would become. He simply could not see the teenage Issei objectively.

"So Mordred, before we start training, could you explain the spell you mentioned? The one that can be used to seal the regeneration of a Phenex," Rias asked, having mentioned her explanation to Issei.

Mordred paused at that. There were two methods he could suggest to her. In his pursuit to humble Robertina, he had personally created them. The first option was not ideal. Reversing his regeneration would certainly defeat Riser with his own power, but it would also potentially cause a feud between the Gremory and Phenex families for the next thousand years. He had refused to even use the spell against Robertina when he realized that using it against her could have killed his sister.

The second option was perhaps for the best. "The spell is useless against most enemies. The formula was designed specifically to seal the Phenex's ability of regeneration for the span of one hour. It's not unlike the Belial's ability of Worthlessness."

"Regeneration? Worthlessness?" Issei's words were spoken quietly, but only by human standards.

"Phenex devils can regenerate any injuries they sustain as long as they have demonic power at their disposal. And Belial devils can basically nullify any power they can understand as long as its power doesn't exceed their own."

"So are these Belial guys the only ones that can beat the Phenex normally?"

Mordred laughed softly at that. "Not at all. Honestly, the Phenex are overrated. There's a limit to how much they can regenerate. Kill one a dozen times, and even a high-class devil of the Phenex family is probably going to be nearly out of demonic power. It's also possible for you to break their spirit to the point they can't bring themselves to regenerating. Sealing their ability is just easier than either of those options. But I've watched a few recordings from Riser Phenex's past Rating Games. He's not exactly weak, and he has two high-class devils in his peerage, one of which is his sister. So it's not just one Phenex you'd be up against."

"I know how overwhelming the odds are, but I don't have a choice." There was determination shining In her eyes as Rias spoke. "And besides, that's why you're here to help me train them, isn't it?"

"They aren't the only ones that need training, Rias Gremory," Mordred pointed out, earning a stunned look from her. "You need to train twice as hard as your peerage. I know you're fairly strong, but I also know that you're not hailed as a prodigy in the same way your brother and nephew are. Before we get into the details there, I have to ask. Do you have any plans for how your peerage's training should go?"

"Not entirely," Rias admitted, uncomfortable by her words. "Ise is still a blank slate when it comes to training, and the others have just worked on honing their strengths over the years."

"In that case, perhaps I should fight against them," Mordred mused. Containing his excitement at those words was not easy. "I'm not exactly sure what they need to work on just yet, but I'll know once I test them."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rias had a look of uncertainty on her face, to which he merely smiled.

* * *

In a clearing in the wooded area behind the old school building, Mordred stood with his arms crossed. Rias stood at the edge of the clearing with Asia, a barrier separating them from Mordred and her peerage.

"You might as well come at me together. Maybe you'll last longer if you do." Perhaps he was being a bit arrogant, but all of his opponents were merely low-class devils. While only at about forty percent of his true strength, he was not truly concerned.

To their credit, they did not balk. Perhaps they wished to teach him a lesson. Either way, Kiba, Shirone, and Issei began to move at once. Akeno spoke before Issei could get far though.

"Ise, keep your distance and use your Sacred Gear to Boost as much as your body can handle."

It was actually the best plan they could have come up with for the Pawn. At his current level, a few boosts would have still made him the weakest member of the peerage, after all.

It came as no surprise that Kiba was the first of the devils to reach him. The demonic sword of European design that he thrust towards Mordred's chest was equally expected.

Inches away from him, Kiba's sword met a hastily formed defensive circle. Unlike his normal circles, it was designed only to block demonic swords. A simple punch would have passed through it effortlessly.

Kiba's sword broke as it met the circle, and he jumped back at once.

That was a mistake.

A magic circle appeared before Mordred and lightning flew from it, shocking Kiba. He barely had time to let out a gasp of pain before he was unconscious.

Shirone reached him shortly after, her fist aimed at his stomach. Sidestepping her attack was easy. Speed was not something she excelled in. But he did not have time to attack the nekomata before Akeno acted.

Lightning flew from the flying Queen's hands towards Mordred, but a magic circle appeared beneath his feet. Just before it reached him, Mordred disappeared. Shirone now stood in his place, and she could do nothing as Akeno's lightning struck her. The intensity of her attack took the Rook out at once.

"You probably shouldn't shoot off ranged attacks while your friends are engaging me in close-ranged combat," Mordred remarked. "You never know when you're going to be fighting someone that can switch locations with them."

Akeno went into a rage at those words and began to bombard him with more lightning, but everytime the lightning neared him, a magic circle appeared and blocked it. As she grew more frustrated, her attacks grew in intensity. And then it happened. Mordred switched locations again, but this time, it was with Akeno herself.

Seeing the half-fallen angel taken out by her own attack was a novel experience.

Mordred landed a few moments later, having appeared in the air when she had decided to attack him from. "And then there was one."

[Explosion!]

The all too familiar sound rang in Mordred's ears and he turned as Issei was charging him. There had only been enough time for him to use [Boost] five or six times, so he was somewhere between thirty-two and sixty-four times stronger than in his base form.

Even so, Mordred easily dodged Issei's punch and slammed his own fist into the other teen's face. The sound of his nose breaking and the feel of the blood on his fist were more satisfying than Mordred expected.

"I believe the fight's over," Mordred remarked, looking around at the beaten devils. "That was a little easier than I expected."

The barrier dropped at that, and Asia rushed to Issei to heal him.

"You're stronger than I expected," Rias admitted as she neared him. "And yet, I can tell you weren't even taking them seriously."

"No, I wasn't." Those words seemed to anger Issei most of all. "But if they'd like, I can allow them a rematch and I'll fight the way I normally do."

"That's not-" Rias began, only for her Queen to interrupt.

"I'll gladly take the chance."

Akeno was not the only one that looked willing either. Issei, Shirone, and Kiba all appeared on board with the idea.

Rias and Asia, on the other hand, both looked worried at the mere notion of a rematch, but Mordred nodded his head. "Alright. Rias, would you mind bringing up the barrier again. This won't take long. I'll only hold back enough not to kill or maim them."

Those words seemed to only make his opponents' fury grow. Still, Rias reluctantly did as suggested.

Things went similarly to the first fight. Issei stuck in the back and began to use [Boost] while Kiba and Shirone charged him. This time, however, Akeno did not stay back. She charged forward with them.

Again, Kiba reached him first, but this time, he did not even get close enough to Mordred before he was taken out. A magic circle appeared before Mordred's right hand, and the swordsman's right foot was pinned to the ground by a transparent blue barrier. Try as he might, he could not even move.

Akeno reached him next, and she managed to throw a punch without him defending with his magic. However, Mordred caught her fist with his bare hand and delivered a powerful blow to her stomach, forcing her to spit blood. She dropped to the ground, wheezing as she tried to regain her breath.

Like before, Mordred dodged Shirone's punch, but he actually threw a blow of his own this time. With her defense as a Rook, however, he knew that a normal punch in his current state would be useless, so he decided to add a little something.

[Penetrate]

Shirone's defense did nothing to stop the strike, and she was defeated similarly to Akeno.

"You might as well call it," Mordred said as he created another magic circle. At once, Issei collapsed, just moments before he could use [Explosion] and charge forward. "Your Pawn and Knight won't be able to move until I drop my spells."

"I knew it was a bad idea." Rias grimaced as she knelt at Akeno's side. Asia was in the process of healing her and Shirone at the same time. It had taken mere moments for the barrier to disappear and them to reach the injured girls. "You can release the others."

With a nod, Mordred did so. The barrier on Kiba's foot disappeared and the spell tailor made to bind Sacred Gear users was released from Issei

"I'd have ended it sooner, but I was afraid I'd break my promise and seriously hurt one of them if I did." Judging by the way he managed to beat Akeno, despite her supposedly having the defense of a Rook, with a single blow, it was entirely possibly that his stronger spells would have been lethal for any of the four except Shirone.

"I appreciate your restraint. I only wish they had not been so eager for a rematch." Pride was truly a troublesome trait. "I trust you know how best to train them now."

"They all need physical conditioning. Your Queen thinks she's a Bishop, apparently. She's much slower than your Knight, her defense is barely better than his too, and her strength is mediocre. You wouldn't know that she is supposed to have the traits of a Knight and Rook, along with that of a Bishop."

Rias did not look pleased at his words, but neither did she argue.

"Your Knight is quick, but he needs to work on his strength. The defensive circle I used to block him in the first fight was so hastily made that he should have been able to break it if didn't neglect working on his strength. Working on his durability would be nice too, but that isn't as necessary right now. Also, his speed isn't a strong point if he telegraphs his movements so much."

Again, she did not argue. "And what about Koneko?" She looked at Shirone at that point.

Mordred was actually bewildered at that. Was it some kind of nickname? It did mean _kitten_ after all. Still, that was pretty lame. "I think it's safe to say that she needs to work on her speed. Other than that, maybe work on her defense against magical attacks. I had to use a defense-ignoring ability to take her out in the second match, but she went down rather easily in the first match from your Queen's lightning.

Rias nodded a bit vacantly at that. Out of all of them, Shirone had been the most impressive- or the least unimpressive.

"And your Pawn needs a lot of work. He needs to learn not to be so hasty. If he hadn't been ordered to stay back by your Queen, he'd have gone down even faster. For someone with no experience with the supernatural before a few weeks ago, I suppose he isn't too terrible. I'd suggest he be put through so much physical conditioning that he thinks he is going to die. His Sacred Gear is useless if he is too weak. Doubling your strength every ten seconds only does so much when your power level so low."

"Your points are not without merit. I will go over a training schedule for them once they are up and a bit more coherent. Now, do I need to fight you as well in order for you to figure out how I need to be trained?"

"Not at all," Mordred assured her. "I already know what you need to work on."

* * *

Every other day, Mordred met up with Rias and assisted her in training while her peerage trained among themselves with Asia on standby. This was not one of the nights that she and Mordred were to meet up though. At present, the rest of her peerage, including Akeno, were fulfilling their _devil jobs_ while she had paperwork to fill out.

After two weeks of interacting with Mordred, Rias had come to one conclusion about the magician. He was hiding something serious from her. He had this knack for knowing things that he should never have known. He had been able to instruct her on how to use the Power of Destruction more effectively, he had access to Rating Game footage (something that only her faction should have possessed), and he had hinted at knowing things about her servants that no one outside of the Four Great Satans and the Gremory family should have known.

To say that Rias Gremory trusted Mordred would have been false. She was using him just as he was using her. And he was certainly using her. The information that he wanted from her was not quite as innocuous as he wanted her to believe. She had located the battleground that he wanted the location of, and it was an outright hot zone for the Three Factions. All three watched the placed carefully and swiftly acted if anyone set foot within it, yet no one would explain why.

Despite not trusting the magician, it would've been wrong to say that he was not a good influence in her life and that of her peerage. Ever since that first day of training, he had managed to whip her peerage into a training frenzy. Kiba and Koneko had managed to help each other adapt to fighting against their weaknesses, while Akeno and Ise had gone through nothing but physical conditioning so they wouldn't be taken out so easily. Given enough time, she hoped to have Akeno instruct Ise in the usage of devil magic. Mordred had suggested she put his perverted imagination to use for once.

Suddenly, Rias looked up as a magic circle appeared in the room. It held the symbol of the Gremory family.

"Grayfia?" Her sister-in-law had appeared from the circle, accompanied by her fallen angel prisoner. Much to her shock, the fallen angel was dressed identically to Grayfia in the attire of a maid. She looked none too happy about it or about being there.

"Have we come at a bad time?" Grayfia Lucifuge asked, looking around at the mostly empty room. Her eyes stopped moving upon spotting Asia Argento, who was sleeping soundly at a desk in the corner of the room. She just hadn't been able to bring herself to go home until Ise finished his job for the night.

"I'm curious as to why _she_ is here, but no, it's not a bad time," Rias answered, her eyes intent upon Raynare. "My peerage is merely busy at the moment. How can I help you, Grayfia?"

Grayfia did not bother to even acknowledge the inquiry on Raynare and merely said, "Riser Phenex will be coming here tomorrow after school. We will be present for the meeting."

No further question was needed. So, her parents had decided to allow the issue to be forced, had they? Fortunately, Mordred's training for her had not been entirely in terms of combat.

"That's unacceptable." Grayfia's impersonal demeanor actually broke for a second at Rias's scathing look. "You give a mere fifteen hour notice of this meeting? Perhaps next time, you'd like to just pop by with him unannounced. I'm disappointed in you." Oh, how she knew she would regret having to say it once her irritation had subsided, but in order for the plan to work, she had to sound outraged and inconvenienced. "As it stands, I have a meeting after school with my contracted magician. You can either reschedule, or we will have a guest for the meeting."

Raynare looked entirely too amused at Grayfia being chastised for anything.

"My apologies for not informing you sooner. I will inform them at once that you will have a guest tomorrow. Unfortunately, this meeting cannot be rescheduled."

But Rias always knew that it wouldn't be rescheduled either way. She merely needed Mordred to be present for the meeting.

"Very well. Now, is that all, or do you need to discuss anything else?"

"There is more to discuss."

"I see." Rias looked at Raynare again. "But first, I want her out of my territory. I don't care if she's serving the Gremory family. I will not abide her presence in the same room as a friend she tried to murder, and I will certainly not allow her to get close to my Pawn after what she did to him."

"That's non-negotiable, I'm afraid," Grayfia said with a look that always appeared apologetic. "However, it is by your parents' order that she accompanied me here tonight and for the meeting tomorrow."

"I wouldn't be here if I had a choice," Raynare muttered.

"If she so much as speaks to either of them for the duration she is in my territory, there will be nothing left of her."

"It does not speak well of you to threaten a maid serving your family," Grayfia cautioned, but Rias looked at her innocently.

"I'm afraid you have me mistaken. I just meant that after my magician went through the trouble of saving my friend from her, I don't think he would take any hint of aggression from your protege well."

Raynare visibly paled at that, no doubt remembering her brief encounter with Mordred Pendragon all too well.

* * *

While Grayfia and Raynare were meeting with Rias, Mordred was not even on the same continent.

It had taken quite some time, but his strength had at least nearly recovered. In five weeks, he had regained roughly eighty-percent of his strength. And so, he had finally decided to act on Uncle Arthur's information.

Deep inside of a hidden crypt in the Welsh countryside, Mordred came to a stop at a sarcophagus. Creating a magic circle, he reduced the lid to dust, and the prize he sought was revealed. It was a longsword, similar in design to what was frequently shown in movies as Excalibur.

Grasping its hilt, Mordred did something he rarely bothered to do. He drew upon the holy element within his body and the sword began to glow.

Lifting it from its resting place, he couldn't help but admire how balanced it was. It was a shame he had never bothered to really learn how to fight with a sword, not that he needed to use this one as an actual sword.

And so, Mordred departed the crypt with the lost fragment, Excalibur Ruler, in hand.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

When Mordred walked into the Occult Research Club room the next day, Grayfia Lucifuge was already there. Apparently, she wore a maid uniform in the past too. It was really no wonder that a few of his siblings had grown up with something of a maid fetish, going through puberty with her around.

If seeing Grayfia brought up good memories for Mordred, the person next to her canceled them out. Apparently, it had been a mistake not to just kill Raynare along with the stray exorcists when he saved Asia. How could she be working as a maid alongside Grayfia? He couldn't smell a hint of devil on her, so there was no way she was anything but a pure fallen angel still.

"Ah, you must be the magician that we were told about," Grayfia remarked, as polite and impersonal as ever. "Allow me to introduce myself-"

"Grayfia Lucifuge," Mordred interrupted. "The Strongest Queen and wife of Sirzechs Lucifer and the older sister of Euclid Lucifuge… yeah, I've heard of you. My name is Mordred Pendragon, direct descendant of King Arthur and Morgan Le Fay through my namesake. It's a pleasure to meet you."

At the mention of her brother, anger flashed in Grayfia's eyes, but only for a moment. Few would have dared mention him. It had been nearly five hundred years since he went missing, after all. Still, she was not a consummate professional for nothing.

"Well met, Pendragon. Feel free to take a seat while we wait on the others. You can discuss your business with the heiress once we're done."

"I'd be happy to." As he took a seat, he couldn't help but wonder how Grayfia would react if he summoned Excalibur Ruler. It probably wouldn't end too well for him if he did.

Taking a seat on the sofa, Mordred had a little bit of a wait before everyone else showed up. It came as no surprise when Kiba and Issei glared a bit at him upon arriving. Neither had been a fan of him ever since their fight, though that was nothing compared to the baleful stare that Akeno shot him. Even when she should have been more polite, she couldn't help but hate him for making her hurt Shirone.

Shirone, on the other hand, barely even looked at him as she sat in a chair in the corner with her candy. The petite devil did had never shown even an ounce of dislike for him, but she did like her space from everyone. Likewise, Rias showed no dislike of him as she walked into the room.

"What's going on, Buchō?" Issei's gaze was not upon her, however, but upon Raynare. The fallen angel had not said a word the entire time Mordred had been there. It was with annoyance that he saw Issei's gaze was more particularly on Raynare's womanly assets.

Rias did not have time to answer Issei's question, however, as a magic circle with the insignia of a phoenix appeared in the center of the room.

A figure appeared from the magic circle, accompanied by flames. In an instant, the room grew unbearably warm by human standards. In the corner, Shirone was glaring as her candy melted. Within the flames, there was a silhouette of a man. With a casual wave of his arm, the flames disappeared.

"It's been a while since I came to the human world." There was something about his voice that made him sound both disappointed and wistful. The man appeared to be in his early twenties and wore a red suit that wasn't buttoned up all the way, revealing his chest.

Looking around, he smirked upon finding Rias. "Ah, my lovely fiance. I came to see you." Unconcerned with the distasteful glare she shot him, he approached her. "Rias, let's go and take a look at the ceremony hall. We need to check it soon, now that the date of the ceremony has been decided."

Rias slapped his hand away as he reached for her arm and fixed a glare at her sister-in-law. "What in the hell does he mean? I was promised that I would have until I graduated university first. I still have over nine months before I even finish high school. I won't be marrying anyone anytime soon."

"You will basically be free. You can go to university and do whatever you like with your servants, but Lord Gremory and Lord Sirzechs are concerned about the possible extinction of the household. As a result, it has been pushed up."

Mordred fake sneezed at that, earning both Riser and Grayfia's attention, though they looked back at Rias mere moments later.

"The new devils- reincarnated devils like your servants- are expanding in terms of strength. We of the seventy-two pillars cannot lose our place. We cannot allow the pureblood devils to go extinct, you know. We were chosen in order to prevent such a fate. My house is safe because I have my two older brothers, but there are only two siblings in your house. Your brother isn't a Gremory anymore, however, so that leaves only you who can inherit the House of Gremory. If you don't take a husband, your house could go extinct. Are you trying to crush the House of Gremory? The future of your house and of the remaining pillars depend upon this marriage."

Again, Mordred fake sneezed, earning a glare from Riser.

"Do you have something to say, magician?"

"Sorry, I'm just allergic to bullshit," Mordred apologized with a smile. "I mean, you don't actually believe the sheer amount of bullshit that just came out of your mouth, do you? I'm really impressed by the claim that Rias Gremory is the only remaining person that can continue the bloodline, considering Sirzech Lucifer and Grayfia Lucifuge have a son that can inherit the position if Rias died or abdicated the position."

"It is flawed reasoning," Rias agreed. "I have no intention of failing to carry on the bloodline with a husband of my choosing, but if anything did happen to me, Millicas would be able to inherit. I daresay that he would be even more worthy than I would."

Not even Grayfia could hide her motherly pride at hearing her son praised.

"But make no mistake, Riser. I won't marry you. I will only marry a man of my choice. Even the devils from the seventy-two pillars have the right to choose."

At those words, the room grew at least twenty degrees warmer and Riser Phenex had begun to emit an unpleasant aura.

"Rias, I'm a devil who carries the name of Phenex behind me. I can't let that name be tarnished. To be frank, I didn't even want to come here. The fire and wind of the human word is filthy. For one who rules over fire and wind, I can't stand it!" Flames rose around him. "I will take you back to the underworld, even if I have to turn all your servants to ash." Two wings of flame could be seen from behind him as Rias rose to her feet and gathered her demonic power.

"Calm down." Mordred called forth a magic circle, and at once, the fire flickered out of existence.

Grayfia actually looked at him with a hint of approval at that. "Indeed. Please calm down. If you continue, then I won't be quiet about it. For Lord Sirzechs's honor, I won't hold back."

Rias dissipated the demonic power around her without hesitation, casting a wary look at her sister-in-law.

Once both high-class devils seemed content not to fight, Grayfia addressed them again.

"Lord Sirzechs and those from the House of Phenex knew it would turn out like this. This was to be the last meeting before things could be resolved, so it was decided that the last resort would be employed. If you wish to continue to rebel against your parents' plans, would you be willing to settle it through a Rating Game with your fiance?" Riser actually grinned at that. "As you know, only devils of a mature age can participate in an official Rating Game, but in an official match, even underage devils can take part for the sake of resolving household problems."

Rias looked to Mordred with a hint of exasperation. It was with no small measure of satisfaction that he smirked in return.

"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered this possibility. Let's settle matters with a Rating Game, Riser."

"So you're accepting it. How brave… I don't mind, but I've already participated in official Rating Game matches and have won most of them. Even so, you still wish to play again me?"

"I will blow you away, Riser." Rias showed a fearless smile at that. At those words, it took all of Mordred's willpower to hold in a snort. Even Shirayuki was better at trash talk, and she was barely a teenager.

"Fine. If you win, do whatever you like. However, if I win, we will be married without any further delay.

"Understood. Now that the opinions of both sides have been confirmed, I will be in charge of the game between the households. Is that alright?" Grayfia received affirmative answers from both. "Understood. I will inform your households then."

"Hey Rias," Riser suddenly said. "Excluding the presumptuous magician, are the other four your only servants?"

"The only ones I can use in a Rating Game," Rias answered sharply, glancing at Grayfia. "By order of the higher-ups, my Bishop cannot leave his room. Unfortunately, I will be handicapped for our match."

Riser frowned at that. "How unfortunate. Only your Queen, the Priestess of Thunder, could hope to match my servants as they are." Snapping his fingers, a magic circle appeared on the floor and his fifteen servants appeared from it.

Out of them all, Mordred only recognized one of Riser's peerage- Ravel Phenex. The past self of Robertina's mother looked so much like her, only with her hair style in two drills instead of four. Like all his siblings, she had not inherited their father's features. Still, at least Ravel had always been nicer to him in the future than her daughter had been.

"Hey Rias, why is your servant crying while looking at me?" Riser actually sounded uneasy now. Looking over at Issei, Mordred couldn't help but groan.

"His dream is to have a harem. I think he was moved by seeing your servants."

"Gross!"

"He's seriously creepy."

"Tell him to stop staring at us."

"Don't say that, my cute servants. Looking up to the successful nobles is all a lowly one like he can do. Let's show them how passionate we are." Right before their eyes, Riser started to make out with one of his servants, only to do the same with another one afterwards. Issei was the only one present that reacted to it, with most of them having seen far worse displays of affection.

Personally, after walking in on Ex and one of his maids, Mordred paid a little tongue kissing no attention. It was, however, amusing when Riser broke contact with the second girl, looked Issei right in the eyes, and said, "You will never be able to do this."

Seeing Issei try to summon Boosted Gear and retaliate, Mordred created another magic circle and he collapsed to the ground.

"Sorry, dealing with him is your job, isn't it?"

Rias merely pursed her lips, not unhappy about Issei being unable to summon his Longinus in front of Riser.

Riser merely looked at the downed Issei and put his hand on his chin as he became thoughtful. "Rias, given you can't use your bishop, how about we have our match in two weeks. We could do it now, but that wouldn't be good for my reputation. The experienced devil with a full peerage going up against an underage devil with just five servants, one of which she can't even use… there's no way to spin that in a positive light. Besides, I'd like you to at least put up a fight. A Rating Game isn't something you can win with only your feelings, you know. If you can't use your servants' power to their fullest, then you will lose immediately. Knowing you, I trust two weeks will be more than enough to make these four stronger."

"I accept." Rias was not going to argue. If anything, she seemed more pleased than anything.

"I'll see you at the game," Riser told her before disappearing along with his servants.

Grayfia and Raynare followed their example shortly afterwards.

"Two weeks, huh? That's even better than we expected."

"That went as planned?" Issei asked, sounding a bit baffled. "That's guy's fire was intense. I'm not sure how we're supposed to beat him."

"That's what you have two weeks to train for," Mordred pointed out. Issei visibly paled at that.

"Are you training us?" Kiba and Shirone looked equally as nervous at that, while Akeno barely maintained her composure.

Rias actually laughed at their reactions. "No, Mordred is done helping us prepare for the Rating Game. Instead, we will be training under someone who owes me a debt. Though, I suppose Mordred is to thank for that."

"Rudiger Rosenkreutz?" Akeno asked, instantly putting the pieces together.

Rias merely smiled as Kiba explained to Issei who that was.

* * *

"Well, if it isn't my favorite time traveler." If Slash Dog wasn't the only other one in the room, Mordred would have been tempted to strangle Azazel at that moment. "And here I was beginning to think you didn't know about the Black Dog Bar."

The Black Dog Bar was something of a headquarters for the Grigori's Team Slash Dog, though it was also where its members held normal jobs as well, despite it being owned by Azazel.

"I just haven't had time to visit," Mordred told him with a shrug as he took a seat at the bar next to Azazel. "Rias Gremory's peerage is currently training under Rudiger Rosenkreutz, so she won't notice if I'm gone for a little while."

"Yes, I heard that you've been making changes. It's not exactly public knowledge yet, but even the Grigori heard that Rudiger has a spell that can stabilize Sacred Gears. I was pretty sure that was your doing."

Mordred went ahead and explained the changes he had already seen in the timeline, along with the ones that he had knowingly caused.

"Hmm, that's strange. It's possible that using a forbidden spell to travel through time could have caused an alternate timeline to be formed, or it might have caused ripples that spread both before and after the point in time you arrived in the past. As I'm sure I mentioned, time travel isn't something I've ever bothered to study."

"Only one being is likely to know the answer, and I'd rather not risk awakening Aži Dahāka." According to legend, the evil dragon had been more or less unkillable, so even his pantheon had been forced to seal him away.

"Fair enough," Azazel agreed rather readily. "Still, I can't believe you somehow made your father's murderer become a maid. That's just great."

"Knowing him, he's going to somehow end up with her in his harem." Honestly, Mordred would have been surprised if it didn't happen. That pervert would pretty much fuck anything with a pair of breasts. "Still, I never considered the possibility of things changing quite so much this fast. I'll study Aži Dahāka's grimoire a bit more and try to see if I can glean some information that will help clarify why this much has changed, but there are still key points of information I need."

"Unfortunately, my information on Khaos Brigade is next to nothing," Azazel admitted. "I can't locate Rizevim Lucifer or Euclid Lucifuge, and reaching Samael's prison in Cocytus is easier said than done. Hades has his grim reapers keeping a close eye on it."

As disappointing as that was, it was not surprising. "And what about the battlefield I asked about?"

"The one you're also asking Rias Gremory about?" Azazel asked, a bit slyly. "Yeah, I know what it is that you're looking for. I've only got the information on the fallen angel side of that battlefield. You'll still need the devil's intel if you want a clear picture of the area. Even then, I'm not sure how you plan on setting foot there without the other two factions mobilizing. Even Michael would send angels into the Underworld if it meant keeping Excalibur's scabbard out of enemy hands."

"You know where Excalibur's scabbard is?" Slash Dog suddenly interjected from behind the bar.

"Azazel recovered it in the future, and he had Shemhaiza give it to Durandal's current wielder, Xenovia Quarta. I never found out its exact location, but with a clear map of the entire battlefield where it was recovered in the future, I can use my magic to locate its precise location," Mordred explained to the Longinus wielder. "Actually getting it without setting off any alarms will be a little tricky but still doable. The plan is to get it as soon as Rias gives me the information I need."

"Excalibur Ruler and Excalibur's scabbard… something tells me that you have plans for a collection of sorts," Azazel mused. "But regardless, I'd like to know what happened in the original timeline in the coming months. We can't trust that things will unfold the exact same way, given what we've already seen."

That was not something Mordred could refute. "Well, sometime in June, the Excalibur fragments of Rapidly, Transparency, and Nightmare were stolen by Kokabiel and Valper Galilei. I know Freed Sellzen was involved too. The Church dispatched Shidō Irina and Xenovia Quarta to Kuō Town to handle things. It was a pretty big incident in history thanks to Kokabiel revealing God's death during it."

He looked up at the sound of glass shattering. Slash Dog was staring at him blankly. "What did you just say?"

"God died during the Great War, along with the original Four Great Satans. Kokabiel revealing that caused the Three Factions to hold a peace conference and discuss the ramifications of the information getting out. During that meeting, Khaos Brigade attacked. It was primarily the Old Satan Faction and one of their magician factions." He hesitated for a moment, unsure if _that_ should be mentioned. But there was no reason not to. "Also, Vali Lucifer publicly defected to Khaos Brigade during the attack. He officially joined after you sent him to apprehend Kokabiel."

"I wish I could say I'm surprised by any of this, but it makes sense. Kokabiel isn't a fan of the current peace. Unlike most of the upper echelons of the Grigori, he wasn't a researcher but a warrior. And Vali does love fighting."

"Maybe, we should get Lavinia to come to the meeting," Slash Dog suggested, making Azazel laugh darkly.

"Oh, that's just great. Yeah, if it progresses the same way, I will have to do that."

While Mordred knew they were talking about Lavinia Reni, possessor of the Longinus known as Absolute Demise, he did not know much about her. By the time Trihexa and Great Red were gone and the Endless invaded, Lavinia, like Slash Dog, was not among the living. Uncle Vali had been adamant about not discussing either of the two after their deaths either.

"I hate to say it, but it might be for the best if we take an entirely reactionary stance to those events. We need the Kuō Treaty to happen if at all possible."

To his credit, Azazel did not argue with Mordred's point. "Be careful. A slight miscalculation can result in peace going out the window and the Great War starting anew."

"I'm aware of that. I'll be as careful as possible, but sometimes, risks are necessary. Besides, if I really have to, I can use another spell to turn back time." No matter what, he could not actually go back in time again unless he went back even farther in time. Co-existing with another time traveling version of himself would have broken the laws of time travel in such a way that not even Aži Dahāka could circumvent. Even so, Aži Dahāka's grimoire had shown him how to actually reverse the flow of time. Merely traveling through it was not his only option.

"Still, I'd like you to inform me of anything major going on. Reinforcements on standby will mitigate some of the danger," Azazel suggested.

It was a reasonable request. That was not something that he could argue with, especially given how close Kuō Town was from Team Slash Dog's base of operations.

"Fine. I still have your contact information."

"Out of curiosity, who exactly gave you that number?" Azazel's curiosity was palpable.

"Ah, that was Uncle Vali, actually." Slash Dog's snort caught him off guard.

"Uncle Vali?"

A chuckle escaped Mordred's lips at that. "I heard that he was far different in his youth, but Uncle Vali calmed down at some point. He might not be related to me by blood, but you'd never know it from how close he was with my mother and uncle. He was also one of the only two people that knew I planned on traveling back in time. The other one was Uncle Arthur."

"So, anything else pressing we need to discuss?" Azazel asked a moment later.

"Yeah, there is actually. Even at full strength, Rizevim Lucifer could kick my ass. So in short, I need a sparring partner. Know anyone discreet and at least ultimate-class?"

Azazel pursed his lips and a soft humming sound could be heard, but it was not he who answered Mordred.

"I'd be happy to be your training partner." Unease filled him upon seeing Slash Dog's self-assured smile.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The Rating Game had come at least, and Sirzechs Lucifer, elder brother of Rias Gremory, sat in the VIP room with great trepidation. It was an odd thing in his opinion. Rating Games always took place in an artificial dimension, so it did not really matter where spectators watched it from, yet places like this were all too common.

"She will do fine."

Sirzechs turned and saw his friend looking at him. "It's not like you to reassure people."

A rueful chuckle escaped Ajuka's lips at that. "No, I suppose not. Yet, I do what I must for my friend all the same. I've kept apprised of the goings on in Kuō recently. I do not believe that this will be much of a match."

"No, I don't expect it will. Riser Phenex's experience in the Rating Game will be hard to overcome."

"You misunderstand," Ajuka said, a sly look in his eyes. "I mean that your sister's odds of losing this match are less than ten percent. I don't expect it will even be a close match."

Even Grayfia looked startled at the man's confidence.

"You've never been one to be ruled by emotion, so what do you know what we don't?" Sirzechs asked, unable to maintain even the semblance of a disinterested tone.

"Enough to fill several libraries, I'd wager. But you'll see some of it in the Rating Game."

The crimson haired Super Devil turned to look at the screen before him just to see his sister's Queen strike down Riser's more experienced Queen with lightning. The system forcible retired her before she could even attempt to use the bottle of tears that she had been given.

That wasn't the lightning of a devil. Not in the slightest. It was _the Lightning of God_, holy lightning.

"Riser Phenex's Queen has been retired," his own queen declared, her voice echoing into the artificial dimension.

"It would seem that the daughter of Baraqiel has overcome some of her self-loathing," Ajuka remarked, amusement all too evident in his voice. "It is amazing what Rudiger Rosenkrautz can manage in such a short amount of time."

"Rudiger Rosenkrautz… what does he have to do with this?" It was not Sirzechs who voiced the question, but rather Grayfia.

"Oh, your sister called in his debt for saving his son's life to get him to train her peerage. I'd assume it was him who managed to get the daughter of the man known as _the Lightning of God_ to embrace her true power."

That was disconcerting. How could it be that not even Grayfia was aware that Rudiger was in his sister's territory? She should have known well before the match, though it was possible that being accomplished as he was with magic, Rudiger was able to go unnoticed.

One by one, they watched as his sister's peerage took down Riser Phenex's peerage without a single casualty. Even Ravel Phenex was taken down, though that was through the teamwork of his sister's Pawn, Knight, and Rook. This generation's Red Dragon Emperor proved to be weird. He used some sort of spell to blow Ravel's clothes away, though she had conjured new ones within a few seconds. All the same, Sirzechs already anticipated a less than pleasant conversation with her father.

Even still, there was a difference between Ravel Phenex and her brother. She had only been able to regenerate herself from the point of death a few times before being retired. Riser, on the other hand, had enough demonic power to come back dozens of times.

"What is she doing?" Grayfia's words were not as soft as she intended, yet Sirzechs found himself wondering the same thing. She had called her peerage off and approached her fellow King alone.

A magic circle appeared before her hand and Ajuka let out a sharp gasp.

"What is this?" Sirzechs asked, but Ajuka just shook his head and watched the screen with rapt attention.

And that was when they saw it. Rias gave a nod to Akeno, who retired Riser with a single burst of holy lightning.

"He didn't regenerate."

"No," Ajuka agreed. "And now, I really need to know who taught her that spell. Sealing the regeneration of a Phenex is something that your sister never could have come up with on her own."

Those words brought everything into perspective. Ajuka had counters to every major ability in the Underworld, especially the Bael's Power of Destruction and the Phenex's Regeneration, but in the entire history of the Underworld, there was never a record of another devil possessing such knowledge.

"There's a Pendragon in Kuō Town that's contracted to my sister as her magician." Grayfia had been somewhat concerned with his presence, and Sirzechs had been unable to find out anything about the mysterious magician in the last couple weeks.

"It appears that we will need to have a talk with your sister and this mysterious magician then." The Lucifer could only nod his head in agreement at that.

* * *

While Rias was having her Rating Game with Riser Phenex, Mordred was in an alternate dimension of his own creation with his sparring partner.

Bringing Excalibur Ruler up, he barely blocked the blade of Ikuse Tobio's scythe. Never had he witnessed a pure human with such skill in combat. In his time, Vasco Strada, Cao Cao, and Slash Dog were certainly legends, but they had long since died. With his biological uncle crippled in the fight that cost his mother her life, Mordred had never truly seen an Ultimate-class human in action.

Blades made of shadow erupted from the ground around the magician, but channeling his holy aura through the Excalibur Ruler, they came to a halt.

Tobio gave a rueful laugh at the sight. "I can see why the devils and fallen angels alike were happy to see that blade lost. Controlling my blades as though they were your own isn't fair." Suddenly, he pulled back, spun the scythe around, brought it towards Mordred's unprotected legs.

The blades of shadow converged and blocked the scythe just barely in time. "I do believe you were trying to cripple me." However, there was no heat to his words.

Tobio leapt backwards, but it was too late. Hundreds of magic circles filled the area around them and the temperature began to skyrocket. The air itself began to burn, and he fell to his hands and knees. Mordred, on the other hand, did not seem affected at all. A pair of crimson dragon wings emerged from his back as he approached Tobio.

"I think that's it for today," Mordred told him before canceling the circles with a smile. "I can see why Uncle Vali described you as being one of the strongest pure humans of all time."

"You flatter me," Tobio said, his voice hoarse. "I'd say you deserve the title of strongest human, but you aren't human at all, are you?"

"Human, I am not," Mordred agreed, looking away from him. "Though, I'd like to point out that you held back a great deal in our fight."

"One day, perhaps we will see who is truly stronger," Tobio remarked thoughtfully. "But for now, it's your victory."

Before Mordred could respond, Tobio's phone began to ring.

The phone call was brief, and Mordred could not make out half of the conversation.

Looking to him, Tobio said, "You may want to get back to Kuō Town soon. It appears that you won't be staying in the shadows now. That was Azazel, and apparently the entire supernatural community knows that some magician by the name of Mordred Pendragon devised a spell that can stop the immortal Phenex from regenerating."

If he expected Mordred to look unhappy about that, he was wrong. Instead, Mordred showed a smile. Things were going according to plan.

"Why do you think I offered Rias Gremory the spells to save Rudiger Rosenkreutz's son and seal Riser Phenex's regeneration?" Mordred asked, more than a hint of amusement audible in his tone.

"Didn't you do it to get the location of Excalibur's scabbard and gain passage to the devil's side of the Underworld?"

"In part, you're correct. Only in part, though. In truth, I gave her two things that benefited me for the promise of two other things that would benefit me. She just didn't know that our bargain was entirely in my favor. Give it time, and you'll see what I mean. Still, I do need to return to Kuō Town, as you said. I need to get the information from Rias and obtain Excalibur's scabbard before my uncle and mother decide to look into the rumors of a Pendragon magician operating in Japan."

A spatial distortion appeared above Mordred's hand and he placed Excalibur Ruler within it before closing the rift. "Thanks for the help, Tobio."

And with that, they parted ways.

* * *

It came as no surprise to Mordred when he arrived in Kuō Town to find Grayfia Lucifuge waiting for him. Being escorted to Rias Gremory's clubroom and finding Sirzechs Lucifer, Ajuka Beelzebub, Himejima Akeno, and Rias waiting for him was equally unsurprising. The presence of Zekram Bael, the originator of his bloodline, did catch him off guard.

"Rias, Akeno, it's good to see you again," Mordred greeted calmly, the corners of his lips turned up ever so slightly. "And it is a pleasure to meet the three most influential devils in existence. I expected the two Great Satans, but I did not expect you, Lord Bael. I've heard much about you over the years."

"Excuse him if he appears belligerent," Rias said, shooting him a sharp look. "Mordred is more blunt than he needs to be most of the time."

"You need not worry," Zekram Bael said, actually looking somewhat amused. "An eccentric magician is not exactly an unusual sight."

"Agreed," Ajuka said with Sirzechs nodding his head.

"We are here because of the spells that you taught Rias Gremory," Sirzechs said, crossing his arms and staring with an intensity that Mordred had not seen in quite some time. "Stabilizing a Sacred Gear is not something that the Three Factions have managed before. Not even Azazel, the foremost researcher on Sacred Gears, could manage it. Yet, you did. Sealing a Phenex's ability to regenerate is not something that any magician has ever managed before. Yet, you did. This, added to the fact that no one seems to have ever heard of you before you showed up in Kuō Town, has us concerned. The caliber of magician that is capable of such feats could not remain hidden for long."

"No, they couldn't," Mordred agreed with a smile. In part, that was the whole point of this. "Assuming, of course, such a magician did not employ their considerable talents to concealing their identity and feats until they were ready to step into the spotlight. Still, you're wrong on one note. I haven't stayed hidden all this time. I've slipped up from time to time. Azazel is well aware of my existence, though I've refused his offers to join his organization." And if they asked the Governor-General of the Grigori about how they met, he would happily tell them a lie.

The revelation that Mordred knew Azazel came as a surprise to all of them.

"But I can understand your hesitance. I cared deeply for my younger half-sisters. If some stranger came around that no one knew anything about, I would have obliterated them," Mordred confessed. "I'm not surprised that the true power behind the Great King Faction would be concerned that one of the Pillars was so easy to stop with a single spell or that the scariest Super Devil would be curious about my magic either. But I'm not a threat to anyone here. I may be Ultimate-class, but I'm more of a researcher than a fighter."

"Ultimate-class?" Rias whispered, staring at him as if she had not considered the possibility.

"You are quite knowledgeable," Ajuka remarked. "Tell me something, Pendragon. Why aren't you concerned? You've admitted that you are merely an Ultimate-class human. With the exception of Rias and her Queen, everyone in this room is stronger than you are."

It took all of Mordred's willpower to suppress the snort that threatened to escape his lips. In truth, Ajuka was the main reason he might lose if it came down to a fight. The children of Hyōdō Issei were all trained to fight against the Endless, whether or not they were sent on the front lines. The Endless were an army of god-class beings. Learning to fight and kill beings stronger than them had been a necessity for Mordred and his siblings.

All in all, the odds of him losing against the two Super Devils and two Satan-class devils were only around forty percent. Ironically, his chances of victory were lower if Ajuka or Sirzechs were the only ones present. Rias Gremory was her brother's weakness.

Still, Mordred could not say any of that. Instead, a crimson wings spread from his back. They were not the wings of a devil but those of a dragon. "Ultimate-class, I am. Human, I am not. My mother may have been a Pendragon, but my father was a Heavenly Dragon. Dragons do not fear power. We are power. Make no mistake, Lord Beelzebub. I know my chances of leaving this room alive if it came down to a fight, but there is no reason for it to turn into such.

"If I had wanted to cause harm to Rias Gremory or your faction in general, you never would have heard of me. I would have put a spell in place that would reduce Kuō Academy to a crater in the middle of the day while the sisters of Sirzechs Lucifer and Serafall Leviathan were in class. I would have then discretely shared my knowledge of sealing spells with the Grigori and the Church, granting them the knowledge of how to seal away the powers of the remaining Pillars. But I did not do this. I won't pretend I have selfless motivations in Kuō, but I have no desire to cause harm."

"There is no denying that aura," Zekram mused. "He is without a doubt related to the Red Dragon Emperor. And he does have a point." Even so, he eyed Mordred warily.

Ajuka looked at him carefully before he spoke. "Later, I'd like to discuss the spells you taught Rias Gremory."

At last, Sirzechs spoke. "I will allow Rias to decide whether you are permitted to stay in Kuō Town, but I warn you now that I will not allow any harm to come to her. If you hurt her, your death won't be quick or painless."

Mordred nodded in understanding before looking at Rias. "I do believe that I've fulfilled my end of our contract. Now it's time for you to do the same."

* * *

In the end, none of the older devils had been pleased to hear what his help had cost Rias. Unlike her, they were all too aware of what resided in the location that Mordred had sought information on. Even so, they had been sure that there was no chance that he could obtain what was hidden there. It's exact location was unknown. All the Three Factions knew that Excalibur's scabbard was last seen in the general vicinity of that battlefield, but that battlefield covered ten square miles. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

That very night, Mordred arrived just outside of the area. With the information he obtained from Rias and Azazel, he had narrowed down its location.

Crimson wings spread from his back as he neared the edge of the battlefield. Alarms would alert all Three Factions if anyone crossed the protections placed around it, but there were a few glaring weaknesses to the protections that few people could have ever hoped to overcome.

[Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!]

Mordred's teeth clicked as pain wracked his body. He only had a few moments before he had to let go of the power. Unfortunately, Boosting had been the ability Ex was more gifted with. Mordred, on the other hand, has been better with Penetrate.

Raising his hands, he began to form more magic circles than he ever had before. No less than ten thousand magic circles formed around the battlefield. And in an instant, he was left with a third of his magic power.

[Penetrate!]

Without hesitating, Mordred walked through forward, passing through the barrier around the battlefield as though it was nothing. And yet, no alarms sounded.

He moved as quickly as possible, navigating the timeless battlefield. His spells would only keep time frozen for so long. If he was still within the barrier when his spells failed, the Three Factions would respond.

As he walked, he created a magic circle above his left hand that almost resembled a compass. It even pointed towards a certain location. It was only thanks to his familiarity with Excalibur Ruler that he had devised a spell to locate similar auras.

It was said that long ago during the Great War, the Three Factions had clashed at this very spot. That was back in the days before the death of God and the original four Great Satans. Supposedly, the bastard son of the original Mordred Pendragon had led an army of exorcists and angels. Kokabiel and the original Belial had led their own armies.

The grandson of Arthur Pendragon was said to have fought valiantly, holding his own against insurmountable odds. The battle had been among the bloodiest of the Great War, perhaps only outdone by the battle against Ddraig and Albion and the battle that cost God and the Great Satans their lives. In the end, only the Pendragon, two of his subordinates, and the Belial had remained. All others had died or fled.

The Pendragon failed to realize exactly how dangerous the power of Belial was though. With his [Worthlessness], the Belial broke the mighty Excalibur. Its scabbard had been knocked loose earlier in that fight, so nothing could be done to save him when Belial's flaming sword had been plunged into the Pendragon's heart.

Still, the original Belial had fallen shortly afterwards. One of the two remaining exorcists had stabbed one of the broken pieces of Excalibur into his back moments after he killed the last wielder of Excalibur.

It was said that the man that killed the original Belial had taken Excalibur's scabbard and hidden it before succumbing to wounds that he had taken earlier in the battle. The other survivor of the battle supposedly gathered up the broken Excalibur and returning the pieces to the Church.

It was ironic that the noble house of Pendragon that Mordred's mother was born into was actually descended from the legendary King Arthur through the bastard son of his infamous bastard. Not that anyone should have been surprised by that knowledge. King Arthur had never sired a child by his queen, and his only son, the original Mordred, had certainly never married.

The final resting place of Excalibur's scabbard was not so hard to find with his spell. If, however, he had not created the spell, Mordred would never have found it. Hidden beneath a pile of bones, the scabbard was wrapped in a blue cloak that looked to be a few years old at most. Written in blood upon it were runes of a sort that he had not seen in quite some time. They were Enochian runes, the written language of the angels and fallen angels. The spell they placed upon the cloth created a barrier of sorts around it and, by extension, the scabbard. The scabbard's aura was completely contained as far as he could tell.

Picking the cloth-covered scabbard up, Mordred broke the spell upon it and a soft sigh escaped his lips. It looked just as he had remembered it. The invulnerability that it bestowed upon its wielder spread throughout his body like summoned Excalibur Ruler from its artificial dimension and sheathed it within the scabbard, only to shake his head. It was not a tight fit in the slightest.

"Soon," he murmured as he placed the sword back into its spatial distortion and fastened the scabbard to his belt.

And without another word, he teleported away. A mere five minutes later, his spells failed, but none of the alarms set up by Three Factions went off.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Lavinia Reni stepped off the train at Kuō Town, humming a comforting tune. In all her years working for Mephisto Pheles, she had never visited the territory of Rias Gremory. The twenty-one year old witch was certainly not unfamiliar with Japan though, having worked with her good friend Tobi.

Adjusting the witch's hat atop her head, she made her way to Kuō Academy. With any luck, she could meet the Pendragon magician that was making waves. The complexity of his spells even had her boss salivating over the possibilities.

Taking her cell phone out, she began to text Tobi and let him know that she had made it. Honestly, that boy seemed so concerned for her. If only Lucidra could show half his concern.

Suddenly, she bumped into someone and the phone slipped from her grasp and tumbled to the ground. Just before it hit, however, the figure that she had bumped into caught it, moving at speeds far beyond that of a human.

"Here you go, miss." The gentle voice certainly did fit the figure. His features seemed almost delicate and regal- something that his three piece suit only seemed to highlight. Yet, there was certainly a strength to him. He had a sheer force of presence that made it hard for Lavinia to look away.

"Thank you, Pendragon." She did not miss the look of surprise in his eyes when she spoke the name. It had just been a guess, but he did resemble the current heir to the Pendragon family to some extent at least. Still, this did make things easier. Now she didn't have to go through his contracted devil to arrange a meeting. "Would you mind if we spoke in private? My name is Lavinia Reni, and I am here on behalf of Mephisto Pheles."

"So the Demise Princess… never thought I'd meet you so soon. Tobio has mentioned you a time or two though."

At the nickname, Lavinia could not hide her pout. Being known for her Sacred Gear was not really something she had ever relished. But the casual mention of Tobi wiped the expression off her face.

Suddenly, the two were no longer on the street but in a hotel room. Teleportation was a rather basic skill for a magician, yet she had not sensed him even use a spell. The skill required for such a feat was impressive to say the least.

"My apologies for teleporting you without your permission, but it's best not to linger too long in public. My connections with Slash Dog are not well known, so talking to you in public might arouse too much suspicion."

"It's fine." She quickly sent the text message to Tobi after mentioning who she was talking it. "You are Mordred Pendragon, correct?"

"I am."

"I was sent to treat with you on behalf of the chairman of my association. The spells you have provided Rias Gremory with have piqued the interest of every magician that has heard of them."

"Those spells are just the tip of the iceberg." Those words did not come as a surprise for Lavinia. No one gave away their best spells so easily. "I'd rather not join an association, even one as esteemed as Grauzauberer. But I wouldn't mind forming a contract of sorts with you. I could provide you with some of my spells, and in exchange, I'm provided with information."

"What kind of information?"

"I'm looking for Rizevim Lucifer and Euclid Lucifuge. Any information on their whereabouts would be helpful. The Grigori hasn't managed to get any leads, but perhaps the elusive Mephisto Pheles can. I'd also like information on the various groups of stray magicians, particularly those with an interest in Khaos Brigade."

"I'll need a token of proof that your spells are worthy it before I can take such a deal to the chairman."

Nodding, Mordred lifted a hand and created a magic circle, unlike any she had ever seen before. The design was elegant and without a doubt more sophisticated than any she had seen before. The circle appeared to tightly restrict how much magical power was used through it too. In terms of energy efficient circles, not even Mephisto Pheles was capable of matching this one.

"And what does this one do?"

"It is based on an ability unique to Rizevim Lucifer called _Sacred Gear Canceller_."

At once, Lavinia tried to call upon Absolute Demise, her Longinus-class Sacred Gear, yet there was nothing. It was as if she no longer had it at all.

Suddenly, he released the circle and she felt the familiar coldness in the back of her mind.

"Is that proof enough for you?"

She could only nod her head in agreement at that. To think that a previously unknown magician could even cancel out a Longinus… yes, it was imperative that they make an ally out of him.

* * *

The arrival of Lavinia Reni in town had been one of the few true surprises for Mordred. Like Tobio, Lavinia had died before Mordred reached his teen years, and so, the two had never met before. She was known to be one of the more talented magicians out there, officially being an Ultimate-class magician even without the use of Absolute Demise.

The possibility of having Mephisto Pheles providing him with information was certainly a good way to take advantage of this unexpected situation, Mordred decided. But that aside, there were other matters that he needed to focus on. According to his information from the future, most of the fragments of Excalibur would find their way to Kuō Town soon. The so-called _Kokabiel Incident_ had occurred sometime in June, which meant that there were only two weeks left before it could happen. Less, probably, given the corpses of low-ranking exorcists that had been found in Kuō in the last couple days.

It was unfortunate that Excalibur Blessing would not end up in Kuō Town during the incident. In the original timeline, it and Excalibur Ruler were the only fragments not to be present during the incident.

Suddenly, Mordred came to a stop and looked over his shoulder.

Rias Gremory was standing behind him, her arms crossed beneath her impressive chest. "We need to talk."

"How can I help you?" He turned and approached the red haired devil with a slight smile.

"I need you to locate Yūto. He ran off after an encounter with a pair of exorcists. It appears that four fragments of Excalibur have been stolen and may be in this very town."

Mordred froze at those words. Four fragments? In the original timeline, only Excalibur Rapidly, Excalibur Transparency, and Excalibur Nightmare had been stolen from the Church. Excalibur Mimic had been stolen as well, but that had only been after Shidō Irina had been captured by Kokabiel.

"I'm going to need more information than that."

"The wielders of Excalibur Destruction and Excalibur Mimic showed up at Kuō Academy earlier. They reported that agents of the Grigori under Kokabiel stole the other four fragments from the Church and supposedly fled to this region. Yūto and Ise had a bit of an altercation with the exorcists, and then Yūto ran away. I believe he intends to track them down and try to destroy them."

Mordred cursed under his breath. Excalibur Blessing had been stolen- something that had not happened in the original timeline. In a way, this was good and bad. It was good in the sense that all seven fragments of Excalibur would be within reach, but it was bad given how dangerous the blades were to Rias, Sona, and their peerages.

"Return to your peerage and don't let any of them go off on their own. I will see what I can do about your Knight and try to track down the Excalibur fragments."

"I didn't ask you to find the swords." There was no rebuke in her words.

"I am a Pendragon. I have more right to the fragments of my ancestor's sword than the Church does." From what Xenovia had mentioned in the future, Rias had been asked to stay out of the Excalibur business in the original timeline. He was certain she didn't care if he got involved, so long as it was clear that it was his decision and not something that his contracted devil requested.

"I cannot disagree with that," Rias admitted. "But I don't believe that the exorcists will share that sentiment."

"No, I don't expect so either," he confessed. "But I'm not looking for their approval." It wasn't as though the Church had behaved all that responsibly with the fragments in the first place. Without them, the Holy Sword Project that had cost so many lives never would have happened.

"Oh, and just as a heads up, Grauzauberer sent a member of theirs to Kuō. Don't be surprised if you see a voluptuous magician wearing a witch's hat."

Rias just nodded almost robotically, as if she was having trouble processing the words.

She left shortly afterwards, and Mordred took out his cell phone. Tobio needed to know that it had begun. Afterwards, he could track down Kiba.

* * *

Tracking down Kiba was not a difficult task. With someone that he was more acquainted with, tracking spells were a simple matter. Still, it had been quite clear that he would not listen to reason, so he did not even try.

Sneaking up behind him, Mordred called forth a magic circle and conjured chains around Kiba. Immediately, the Knight began to fight against them, trying to break his bindings, but it was useless. Not even Shirone had the physical strength necessary to break them.

"You know, running from your master is a good way to get labeled a stray," Mordred remarked conversationally as he approached the Knight.

"Don't tell me she sent you to find me." The frustration in his voice was palpable. If not for the chains around his legs, he no doubt would have tried to run.

"Yeah, she was afraid you'd try to do something stupid. Can't say I blame her since you apparently got into a fight with an exorcist and ran away from your King. Devils have been killed for worse."

"You don't understand!"

"I don't understand what, exactly?" Suddenly, his conversational tone was replaced by one as cold as ice. "I don't understand what it's like for people I care about to die? I don't understand what it's like to spit upon their deaths and risk my life for some stupid ideal? Tell me what it is that I don't understand."

A spatial distortion appeared above Mordred's palm and he drew Excalibur Ruler from it. The hiss of shock that Kiba let out was more than a little satisfying.

"You suffer from survivor's guilt and blame this for the deaths of your friends. But guess what. Swords aren't responsible for killing people. Only the person wielding them can be responsible for that. But your friends weren't even killed by a sword, and neither were you. They were killed with poisonous gas by a madman. A madman that is obsessed with Excalibur. Trying to avenge your friends by destroying Excalibur would be like me killing attractive women to get back at my pervert of a father. It makes no damn sense. So get over yourself."

With a slash, Mordred shattered the chains that bound Kiba, yet he could not move even without them. "Now, with the power of Excalibur Ruler, I command you to return to Rias Gremory. If you run away again, I will send you back to her in chains or in a cage. I haven't quite decided which yet. Do you understand?"

But Kiba did not answer, instead his body simply moved as commanded. Against the true wielder of Excalibur Ruler, his willpower was insufficient to do anything but what he was commanded.

Shaking his head, Mordred created another magic circle. This one was not unlike the spell he used to locate Excalibur's scabbard a week ago. At once, the spell located seven signatures. the closest was Excalibur Ruler, so he could ignore that. But then he saw something that was concerning. Two of the signatures were fast approaching him.

Turning, he saw two figures arrive. One of them looked very similar to Freed Sellzen, though he appeared to be a little older and more muscular, while the other was an attractive blonde close to his own age wearing an unfamiliar school uniform.

"Hey Sieg, think this is that magician we're looking for?" the girl asked with a smile as her hand reached for a holy sword sheathed at her hip. There was no doubt about it, it was Excalibur Blessing.

"Yes, though I wasn't expecting him to be in possession of the lost fragment of Excalibur," her companion remarked as he placed his hand on the hilt of Excalibur Nightmare

"Jeanne and Siegfried of the Hero Faction… what are two of Cao Cao's most trusted fighters doing here?"

This was bad. Not for the first time, Mordred wondered if he had ended up changing the timeline too much. Khaos Brigade had been entirely uninvolved in the _Kokabiel Incident_ in the original timeline. It had just been Kokabiel and his human subordinates involved. Siegfried and Jeanne were threats far beyond anything Rias and her peerage could handle at this point in time.

It appeared that he might actually need Team Slash Dog to step in and help resolve the situation.

At his words, the two humans shared a look of surprise.

"We're here to recruit you. Cao Cao is always looking for promising humans to join the Hero Faction. But I am sure you already know that if you know who we are and who our boss is."

"You seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am human." Crimson dragon wings spread from Mordred's back at those words.

Siegfried looked disappointed at the display while Jeanne actually pouted.

"Very well, it appears that we must destroy you."

Siegfried was every bit as fast as he had heard. In the blink of an eye, he covered the distance between them and was swinging the Excalibur fragment at Mordred. But he was not the only one that had sprung into action. Jeanne had summoned a dozen holy swords from the ground and tried to impale him with her sacred gear. Blade Blacksmith, otherwise known as Holy Sword Creation, was certainly versatile.

But Mordred was the wielder of Excalibur Ruler. Excalibur met Excalibur and the artificial holy swords shattered with nothing but a thought. Still, the two did pose a threat to him. With Excalibur Nightmare, Siegfried could create illusions, so he quickly used [Penetrate] and [Transfer] to see through any that he tried to use.

With a flick of his wrist, Mordred threw Siegfried back and pressed the attack. Steel rang against steel as the two holy swords met time and time again. But Excalibur Ruler was not known as the strongest fragment of Excalibur for nothing. Its blade withstood the clashes as thought nothing happened to it, whereas the edge of Excalibur Nightmare was full of nicks already.

Suddenly, Siegfried jumped out of the way and a dragon made of swords flew at Mordred. Jeanne's Balance Breaker actually caught him off guard, but only for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he drew upon the holy element within him and channeled it through Excalibur Ruler in greater quantities than he normally did.

[Boost!] [Boost!] [Transfer!] [Penetrate!] [Transfer!]

With a slash of Excalibur Ruler, a powerful blade of holy energy was sent flying and cleaved the dragon in two. An instant later, the summoned holy swords flew at Siegfried.

Cursing, Siegfried dropped Excalibur Nightmare and drew forth his most powerful sword, the Demonic Sword Gram. With the weapon that had slain the Gigantis Dragon Fafnir when wielded by his namesake, it took naught but a single slash to destroy the remnants of Jeanne's Balance Breaker. But it was never supposed to defeat him.

Siegfried looked on in horror as Excalibur Nightmare flew to Mordred's left hand.

"This isn't good, is it?" Jeanne asked, looking at the dual wielding Pendragon.

"I don't believe so."

Lifting Excalibur Nightmare, Mordred called forth a memory. Unlike him, they could not see through the blade's illusions. A scream of horror escaped Jeanne's lips and Excalibur Blessing fell from her grasp as she beheld a sight that could break the mind of a lesser person- Trihexa.

By the time the illusion of Trihexa dispelled, Mordred was long gone with their fragments of Excalibur.

* * *

Cao Cao frowned as his subordinates relayed the events of their meeting with the illusive Mordred Pendragon. It was unfortunate to learn that the man was not human, but everything else piqued his interest.

"The lost of the Excalibur fragments is inconsequential." What did it matter if they lost weapons they weren't overly familiar with. It wasn't as if his plans, or even that foul crow's plans, required the fragments. They had merely been bait. The madman behind the Holy Sword Project might have had plans for all the fragments, but Cao Cao had no desire to see the man's wishes fulfilled.

Still, the fact that this dragon magician wielded Excalibur Ruler as though he was born to it and could summon forth an illusion with Excalibur Nightmare that even made the normally unflappable Siegfried feel fear definitely interested the leader of the Hero Faction. The fact that Mordred even knew about the Hero Faction only made it more interesting.

"I want you two to bring the others to Kuō Town. We will discuss our plans from there." As strong as they were, it would no doubt take all of Cao Cao's team to take down such an opponent unless he personally took to the field. His features curved into a grin at the thought. The very idea of such a fight made the battle maniac anxious. Who would win, the Excalibur-wielding magician or the hero with the god-slaying spear?


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Shidō Irina and Xenovia Quarta entered the abandoned church, mirroring looks of discomfort upon their faces as they saw the desecration wrought by the fallen angels that once lived within those very halls.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea," Irina admitted. It was not a good day for either of them. The pair had arrived in Kuō Town that morning and on a mission of grave importance- to recover the four stolen fragments of Excalibur. They had secured a pact of neutrality from the devil that managed the town, but even so, things were not exactly going well for the pair.

For Irina, she had seen a vastly different town than the hometown she remembered. To make matters worse, she ran into her childhood friend again, who was now a devil. To think that her first friend and crush would now be an enemy… and a pervert without equal.

And for Xenovia, it was merely a bad start to the mission. They had managed to come no closer to their objective than they began.

But their night was far from over.

"I was wondering if you two were going to show up."

Suddenly, _he_ appeared. Leaning against the altar was a young man with short blond hair and brilliant blue eyes. Irina, against her will, could not help but feel her cheeks flush upon seeing him. Her heart beat stronger than it ever had, outside of battle.

"My name is Mordred Pendragon, and as unlikely as you may find it, we share a goal."

A spatial distortion appeared above his hands and he withdrew two holy swords- Excalibur Blessing and Excalibur Nightmare.

"Thief!" Xenovia exclaimed. Excalibur Destruction was released from its bindings faster than Irina could react, and the blue haired exorcist was rushing to meet the stranger, blade first.

"Perhaps you missed the name _Pendragon_," he idly remarked before crossing the blades. Excalibur Destruction met them, but the holy aura that expanded from the lesser blades upon impact completely nullified the destructive powers of Xenovia's sword. "Basically, it means that the swords are my birthright. That being said, I won't deny technically being a thief. I did steal these blades about an hour ago, but I wasn't the one that took them from the Eastern Orthodox Church."

With a simultaneous flick of his wrists, he sent Xenovia skidding backwards. "That being said, I will not hand them over. If you insist, I suppose I could bet them against you in a fight, but I'd require an equal ante. Not sure if you really want to give them up so easily though."

"Irina, our objective has not changed," Xenovia declared, gripping Excalibur Destruction in both hands. Immense holy aura began to flow from the blade, and Irina rushed to her side, torn between drawing her own sword and chastising her friend for being so reckless.

In the end, Excalibur Mimic was drawn forth and assumed the form of a katana.

"We accept your challenge." Irina nodded in agreement with Xenovia's words.

But Mordred merely smiled. "Oh Father, thank you for your grace and the tidings you bring unto all your children. May your misguided children's arrogance by wiped away with a stroke of the sword." The aura around Excalibur Blessing was like looking at the sun. Xenovia and Irina could not stop from flinching as the swordsman cut through the air.

But the sword never reached them. The radiance instead filled the entirety of the church and the sense of wrongness that permeated the very walls of the desecrated church was gone.

"Excalibur Blessing really can work miracles, even in the hands of one with little to no experience at performing exorcisms. But now that this is consecrated ground, once again, I do believe we should take this outside. I'd rather not get struck down by Michael for destroying a church."

Irina and Xenovia shared a look, but they could not disagree. The former was more concerned by his little feat than anything though. Purging the corruption from the church was not something the both of them could have done combined, even with Excalibur Blessing.

Once outside the church, Xenovia and Irina made the first move. In a single rush, they were upon him. As his blades blocked Excalibur Destruction, Excalibur Mimic took the form of a spear as it was aimed at his legs. It was only thanks to his footwork that he managed to dodge the initial strike.

Leaping backwards, Mordred's features curved into a smile. "Oh Heavenly Father, shield me in your brilliance and let your servants see your splendor." Suddenly, a skin-tight barrier of brilliant light covered his skin.

Xenovia did not slow down though. She took the chance given to her and slashed down at him with the full might of Excalibur Destruction. He did not block it.

"What?" Xenovia exclaimed as the blade struck his left shoulder, only to be sent flying out of her hands from the explosion. The barrier he wielded as armor did not waver in the slightest.

"You may want to pick that up before I decide to attack," Mordred suggested with a small smile. The danger that glinted in his eyes filled Irina with terror.

Dashing towards it, Xenovia managed to grasp the hilt of Excalibur Destruction just in time. Spinning around, she saw Excalibur Blessing less than a foot away from her face. But she was not the only one that moved. Irina put herself between them and blocked the slash with Excalibur Mimic.

"You're faster than I thought." Suddenly, the Mordred that attacked them was gone. He was still standing where he had been Xenovia attacked him.

"Was that an illusion?" Irina whispered under her breath.

"I believe so." Xenovia stood beside her, her eyes focused on Pendragon. "I believe this man is beyond us. I'd like to believe that Dulio or Father Strada could defeat him, but I'm not certain the two of us stand a chance."

"We can't surrender."

Xenovia nodded in agreement with Irina's words. "No, we cannot. But I believe that it's time to call forth my trump card."

Irina visibly paled and she jumped to the side. Distance between them would be necessary if she called forth _that_.

"Oh, are you ready to bring out the big guns?" Mordred's sly smile unnerved Irina even more than Xenovia's words. "Then, perhaps I should do the same."

From the corner of her eye, Irina saw Xenovia draw the holy sword Durandal from a spatial distortion.

"Three holy swords against two… doesn't seem fair to me," Mordred mused before throwing Excalibur Nightmare and Excalibur Blessing into the air. "Let's even things up." And that was when he drew a third sword from another spatial distortion.

Excalibur Ruler was not unrecognizable for either exorcist. Its likeness was in countless books at the three branches of the Church, and all Excalibur wielders were taught to recognize it on sight in case it ever surfaced again.

Mordred caught Excalibur Nightmare, and Excalibur Blessing stopped midair before it floated directly above his head, the blade pointing forward.

"Let's dance."

And for the first time in the fight, Mordred went on the offensive. Slashing with the Excalibur fragments in his hands, he kept Xenovia on the defensive while the floating Excalibur Blessing attacked Irina just as fiercely.

"Is he controlling its every movement?" Irina muttered as she fought off the so-called weakest Excalibur fragment. Its movements were every bit as skillful as those the man himself employed against Xenovia.

She was faring no worse than Xenovia. The girl known among the exorcist ranks of the Catholic Church as _the Slashing Princess_ could do nothing in the face of the relentless assault. Every time she tried using the destructive capabilities of her Excalibur fragment or Durandal's ability to call through all things, Mordred used Excalibur Ruler to restrain the power, not allowing it to leave the sword.

Never before had Irina seen Durandal so docile in Xenovia's hands.

With a roar, Xenovia pushed him back and went on the offensive, but her blades brushed harmlessly against his barrier-clad body.

"Enough."

At once, Irina came to a stop. There was nothing voluntary about it. Her body merely froze in place. Fortunately, Excalibur Blessing stopped as well, or she would have been cut to ribbons.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Xenovia also frozen in position.

It took less than a moment to understand. While remotely controlling an Excalibur fragment to hold her off and simultaneously restraining Durandal's aura with Excalibur Ruler was impressive, _this_ had never occurred to her. To think that he could exert its power over them so completely… it was inconceivable.

"What was the Church thinking?" The derision in his voice caught her off guard. There had been something measured about everything he had said thus far. But now his words held a rawness that she had not expected. "You two wouldn't even hold Kokabiel's attention for a second before he cut you down."

Xenovia no doubt wanted to argue against his words, though Excalibur Ruler would not allow her to so much as open her mouth. Irina, on the other hand, could not even pretend to disagree. While it was certainly their duty to do as the higher-ups ordered, she knew Kokabiel was far beyond their abilities.

"You'd be better off returning to your superiors and telling them that you failed. But I won't take that decision away from you." He paused for a moment before continuing. "However, you did accept my challenge, and you cannot so much as move without my say so. Therefore, Excalibur Mimic and Excalibur Destruction are mine."

Against her will, Irina's fingers loosened and Excalibur Mimic was pulled from her grip.

Mordred opened a spatial distortion and Excalibur Blessing, Excalibur Destruction, Excalibur Mimic, Excalibur Nightmare, and Excalibur Ruler were all placed within. The moment it closed, Irina collapsed to her knees.

Within moments, she was on her feet against and she slammed into Xenovia, who tried to charge him with Durandal. Irina needn't have done anything, however.

"Sleep."

Xenovia collapsed into unconsciousness at that word. Irina turned just before the magic circle dissipated. That sight alone filled her with dread. Exorcists had some training resisting magic. To think a swordsman of his caliber was also apparently skilled with magic as well….

"I trust that you can handle her when she wakes."

Irina pursed her lips. "I can try. She does not take well to defeat, and you having five of the Excalibur fragments certainly means that we've failed in our mission."

"I suppose it does," he conceded. "However, there is more at stake here than just your mission. Who holds Excalibur matters far less than a reignition of the Great War."

Holding his hand out, he opened another spatial distortion and withdrew a holy sword from it, but it was not an Excalibur fragment. It was no less powerful, however. From a glance, she recognized it. It was not shown anywhere in the tomes she had studied in England or at the Vatican, however. No, she recognized it from her childhood.

"That sword was broken long ago."

A smile graced his features. "You'd be surprised by what I can accomplish with my magic if I only wish it to be so. But I did take your only weapon, so it is only right that I bestow another upon you. Kusanagi will serve you well. I'd just advise you and your friend focus on Kokabiel and his forces. If you try to _liberate_ my birthright from me, I won't be so gentle again."

With a smooth motion, he threw Kusanagi threw the air and it stabbed into the ground right next to her. The moment she grasped the hilt, its immense power nearly overwhelmed her.

Taking her eyes off the sword, she found that Mordred was gone.

"I better get Xenovia inside." After that, contacting headquarters was definitely a priority.

* * *

When Mordred arrived at his home in the Kuō underground, he found that he was not alone. Ikuse Tobio and Lavinia Reni were both waiting outside his door.

"Well, this is a surprise," he remarked.

"I heard Lavinia was around, so figured another Longinus couldn't hurt."

"I got the call before I could meet with the chairman, but this and any arrangements we spoke of are separate matters," Lavinia said, a fierceness that he had not expected in her eyes. "We will not let Kokabiel reignite the Great War."

"I'm glad to have you two here," Mordred admitted. "I spoke with the two exorcists that the Church sent to recover the stolen Excalibur fragments. They were not keen on cooperating, especially once they saw that I had liberated two of the Excalibur fragments."

"Let me guess. You're now in possession of their fragments."

Mordred laughed at Tobio's words. "You're definitely insightful, my friend. Fortunately, one of the wielders is also the wielder of Durandal, so I didn't leave her completely unarmed. I gave the other one Kusanagi."

"Ah, right. I forgot you retrieved the fragments the other day. I assume repairing it went according to plan."

"It was not without its difficulties, but I figured it out. More importantly, I should be able to apply the same method to restoring Excalibur once I have the last two fragments. I'm going to need the reforged sword if my suspicions are correct."

"What happened?" Even Lavinia appeared concerned.

"Two of the Excalibur fragments were wielded by members of Khaos Brigade's Hero Faction. And no, this did not happen last time." He could feel Lavinia's burning gaze upon him.

"So we've got Kokabiel and Khaos Brigade working together?"

Mordred nodded. "Yeah, I'm afraid that we do. Unfortunately, we can't call in the cavalry either. As much as I'd love to have Vali with us, Azazel can't send another Longinus user here without it being seen as an act of war. It's just fortunate that Lavinia is officially one of Mephisto's subordinates."

"In that case, we're going to need to work together with the devils of Kuō and the exorcists to handle matters," Lavinia stated, catching them both off guard. "Khaos Brigade is too great a threat for us to stand separate."

"You're right." Mordred could not disagree with her. Just Siegfried and Jeanne were formidable foes. If the entire Hero Faction showed up, they wouldn't stand a chance. "Lavinia, can I trust you to escort Tobio to Kuō Academy? I need you two to explain the situation to Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri."

"I can, but where are you going to be while we handle that? I don't see the exorcists happily welcoming you."

"No, they won't. So, I'm going to appeal to Vasco Strada. Wish me luck."

And with that, the three left to carry out their high risk negotiations.

* * *

From the start, Mordred knew that his was the more dangerous of the two assignments. Irina had no doubt informed the Church of his existence already, so he would be meeting with the most dangerous human on the planet, who just so happened to know that he stole something from his faction.

That being said, Uncle Arthur had told him countless stories about the so-called _Violence of Heaven_. From what he knew of the man, his skill in combat came second only to his compassion. So while he might have been the greatest threat to Mordred in a fight that the Church possessed, he was also the person most likely to actually help him.

It did not take much effort to reach the Vatican and find the man. Upon lying eyes upon Vasco Strada, Mordred's throat grew tight. He may have appeared elderly with his white hair and wrinkled face, but at over two meters tall with a neck, chest, arms, and legs that were thick with muscle, he was a more intimidating sight than even Fenrir. Though, he may have held some bias there, considering he grew up with the wolf.

Vasco Strada was standing at the altar of one of the Vatican's many chapels, and there was not a single other person present.

"Hello, my child," he greeted with a kind smile. "I've been waiting for you."

"Of course, you were," Mordred muttered under his breath. The man was supposedly very familiar with magic. Had he sensed Mordred's teleportation? "I hope you'll pardon me if I still insist on formality, however. My name is Mordred Pendragon."

"And I am Vasco Strada, known by many around here as Father Strada. I must say, I never expected a member of the Pendragon family to reclaim your birthright after so long."

"Excalibur is going to be necessary for what's happening in Kuō right now," Mordred began, only to be interrupted.

"I was speaking of your scabbard, actually." Those words brought Mordred to a halt. He had Excalibur's scabbard stored away in a pocket dimension. How could Vasco Strada know? "Your recovery of the scabbard was not as unnoticed as you may believe. That battlefield was situated between the territory of two of the Biblical Factions, and so they were content to merely keep alarms in place if someone trespassed. Heaven, however, has maintained a watch on that old battlefield ever since the day it was lost. Michael personally told me about it. You are a person of interest to the Great Seraphs."

Well, that was not what he was expecting.

"That being said, I am not entirely aware of what all they know about you. My knowledge of you extends only to you being a skilled enough magician to stop time over an entire city, being a skilled enough swordsman to effortlessly defeat Xenovia Quarta, and holding possession over five fragments of Excalibur, along with its scabbard. Irina was quite thorough in her report when she checked in shortly before your arrival here. But, I suppose you are wondering why I'm not angry in the slightest about your reclamation of the four Excalibur fragments that the Church has held for the last thousand years."

"I am curious."

"That's quite simple. You did not actually hurt Xenovia or Irina, and Excalibur is not as important to me as their lives. Some in the Church will be outraged by their loss, but I am not one of them. And something tells me that you wouldn't be here if you didn't have a very good reason for what you did."

"I do. Have you ever heard of Khaos Brigade?"

Vasco Strada grimaced at that. "I am. The Church has been aware of it since the Satanael incident a couple years ago."

"Khaos Brigade's Hero Faction is currently in league with Kokabiel. I do not know if he joined them or if they are merely cooperating. But Siegfried from the Siegfried Institution was wielding Excalibur Nightmare in Kuō before I took it from him. He was accompanied by a woman claiming to have inherited the soul of Joan of Arc and called herself Jeanne. To make matters worse, I know that their leader wields True Longinus. Dimension Lost and Annihilation Maker are also among their number."

Vasco Strada closed his eyes for a moment. Then he withdrew a cell phone from his vestments and sent a text message. "I assume you wish to gather a force to handle matters in Kuō."

"With any luck, Rias Gremory's peerage, Sona Sitri's peerage, Slash Dog, and Lavinia Reni will all be working with me. I've already spoken to the last two. I believe that Xenovia and Irina could help."

"You'll have their aid," the Cardinal Priest told him. "Along with another's."

Suddenly, the doors opened and Mordred turned just in time to see a young man with blond hair, wearing priest vestments as well.

"Mordred, I'd like you to meet Dulio Gesualdo. Dulio, I'd like you to meet Mordred Pendragon. Your orders are as follows: report to Kuō Town and take charge of Xenovia Quarta and Shidō Irina. Then, cooperate with Mordred in dealing with Khaos Brigade and Kokabiel's forces. Excalibur is no longer a priority."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

The moment Mordred and Dulio entered the room, Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri rose to their feet, more than a hint of fear in their eyes.

Unlike before, they were gathered not in the Occult Research Clubroom but in the larger room belonging to the Student Council. The two devils' peerages were present, along with Ikuse Tobio and Lavinia Reni.

"Dulio, Lavinia will pass your orders on to Xenovia and Irina while I handle matters here. Once they show up, we will begin the meeting properly."

"Right," Dulio nodded thoughtfully, not even sparing a glance at the high class devils present. "But afterwards, lunch is on you."

He didn't wait for a response before going over to Lavinia.

"Mordred, what's going on?" Rias had never sounded so demanding of him- not in this timeline, at least. "You can't just bring three Longinus wielders in my territory without my permission. Do you have any idea what could happen?"

"Rias, things have escalated. I need you and Sona to come with me. We need to get in contact with the Four Great Satans now."

"How serious have things become?" Sona asked, her cool gaze focused upon him.

"Serious enough that Vasco Strada and Azazel ordered the strongest agents within their factions to cooperate with me. You'll know more about how serious things are once we get in touch Sirzechs."

"I see." Sona let out a sigh before turning to her Queen. "Stay with the others."

Rias gave similar orders to Akeno before the pair followed Mordred to a nearby room.

Moments after entering, hundreds of magic circles formed in an instant. "The room's now secure," he told them. Even with the explanation, the pair shared a look of alarm.

Lifting a hand out, Mordred created a magic circle more intricate than any either devil had ever seen. Second later, Sirzechs Lucifer was standing before them.

"Well, you appear to be considerably more skilled than I believe." There was nothing jovial in the man's voice- something that caught Rias off guard. "Any reason you forcibly summoned me here? I hope your intentions aren't sinister, or I will end you."

Despite Sirzechs Lucifer being far more powerful than Mordred, summoning him was not actually all that difficult, primarily because the Super Devil had not bothered to resist the summons.

"Khaos Brigade is cooperating with Kokabiel."

Those words were met with narrowed eyes. "Is it the Old Satan Faction? There are rumors that they have joined them."

"I wish. No, it's the Hero Faction. I fought two of their number just recently. I have reason to believe the rest are going to be present the next time we meet. Considering their leader wields True Longinus, the Grigori and the Church are cooperating with me."

Sirzechs exhaled sharply at that revelation. "Judging by Ajuka's information, you have the wielders of Canis Lykaon, Absolute Demise, and Zenith Tempest in this very building. True Longinus may be the strongest Sacred Gear, but with Boosted Gear here as well, there have never been this many Longinus gathered in one place in history. There is no telling what will happen."

"Khaos Brigade's Hero Faction is in possession of Dimension Lost and Annihilation Maker. With Divine Dividing in the hands of Azazel's top agent, Regulus Nemea in the peerage of Sairaorg Bael, a magician associated with another faction of Khaos Brigade holding Incinerate Anthem, the vampires possessing Sephiroth Graal, and the situation regarding Innovate Clear and Telos Karma, I don't believe that an alliance of four Longinus is necessarily enough against the three that we will be facing. Unfortunately, I don't believe involving the White Dragon Emperor would be a good idea and things would get rather complicated if we asked the heir to the House of Bael to get involved."

Only after his explanation, Mordred realized something. Sirzechs had no idea who all the Longinus wielders were. Mordred had just given him information that not even Ajuka possessed.

Still, this did not actually deviate from his plans in all actuality. As much as he liked his secrets, Mordred knew that some people needed to know the truth. Otherwise, he would appear as too suspicious. His security measures on the room had been done in case of this very eventuality.

"How do you know all that? Just who are you, Mordred Pendragon?" The question may have been asked by Sirzechs, but in Rias and Sona's eyes, he could see the question reflected.

"I guess it won't hurt to tell you. The spells on this room will stop you from speaking of it without my permission, after all. So, I'll tell you the truth about who I am." He looked at Rias, making sure he met her eyes when he spoke the secret. "By birth, I am Hyōdō Mordred, son of the current Red Dragon Emperor and the daughter of the current head of the House of Pendragon. Rias Gremory is actually my step-mother, though in my timeline, that doesn't happen for another twelve years."

The look of shock or Rias's face brought out a small laugh from him. "Her pervert of a Pawn is my father, and I traveled thirty years into the past to prevent the end of the world as we know it. With any luck, I'll even be able to prevent your death this time, Sirzechs Lucifer."

Sirzechs closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I wish I could believe you are insane. Unfortunately, I can't convince myself of that. But, I expect the full story once this is handled."

"That's fine with me," Mordred conceded. "In that case, I ask that you return to the Underworld and share the information regarding Khaos Brigade's Hero Faction and Kokabiel working together with those you trust. I'll protect your sister to the best of my ability, but if we're going to handle this incident without starting a war, the Three Factions need to work together. You personally handling the entire affair would make matters worse."

It was with great reluctance that Sirzechs agreed. "But if anything happens to my sister-"

"I can't promise she won't be harmed, but we have a pact. On my pride as a Pendragon, and as a dragon, I swear that I will protect her, even if I have to face Kokabiel and True Longinus at the same time."

"If you break your vow, you won't live to see another day," Sirzechs told him flatly.

Sirzechs left not long afterwards, but before the trio could return to the Student Council's room, Rias had to say something.

"This is why you're so hard on Ise and the others, isn't it? You want to keep them safe, so you're harder on them."

Mordred actually laughed. "Actually, it's because I don't particularly like them. Your Pawn wasn't a very good father, and he had way too many children for all of us to be close to our step-mothers. Sorry to break it to you, but the two of us never even got along in my timeline."

* * *

Before long, everyone was gathered in the Student Council's room. After a round of introductions, the meeting properly began.

"As you all know, Kokabiel and his agents stole four of the fragments of Excalibur from the Church and brought them here. We can only assume that he is trying to reignite the Great War. To make matters worse, he is cooperating with Khaos Brigade."

"What is Khaos Brigade?" It was Irina that posed the question, though it appeared she narrowly beat others to it.

"Khaos Brigade is a loose alliance of a variety of factions. It was founded by Satanael during the business with Oz a couple years ago. Its various factions each have their own motives, but among them, one faction is the most dangerous. That faction is known as the Hero Faction. They rename themselves after legendary heroes that they claim they are descended from or have inherited the spirit of. Excalibur Nightmare and Excalibur Blessing were in the possession of two such members. The former was in the hands of Siegfried, a former exorcist of a certain institution, and the latter was wielded by Jeanne, who possesses Blade Blacksmith."

"Siegfried is trouble. He's the current wielder of Demonic Sword Gram, which is on par with Durandal," Dulio remarked. "Not familiar with this Jeanne, but I'd assume she inherited the spirit of Jeanne d'Arc."

"That's right," Mordred confirmed. "Another of their group is named Heracles. He has an explosive Sacred Gear and is durable enough that nothing short of Ultimate-class magic will harm him. But those three are nothing compared to their strongest members."

That only served to make the lower class devils look nervous.

"Leonardo is the wielder of Annihilation Maker, otherwise known as Demonic Beast Creation. Georg, descendant of the magician known commonly as Faust that made a pact with Mephisto Pheles, is the wielder of Dimension Lost, the third strongest Longinus-class Sacred Gear in existence. He has more than likely obtained Balance Breaker. And then there's the leader. Out of all of us, only Dulio, Tobio, and I stand any chance against him. His name is Cao Cao, and he is the wielder of True Longinus, the Holy Spear. Merely looking too long at it could kill a low-class devil and warp the mind of an exorcist. He is in possession of Balance Breaker as well- not that he would need to use it to defeat anyone in this room outside of the three I mentioned and Lavinia."

"What is Balance Breaker?" It was Issei that asked the question, of course. The others were a lot more focused on the revelations Mordred gave them to ask any questions. "And what's this True Longinus?"

"Balance Break is the ultimate form a Sacred Gear can take. Boosted Gear's Balance Breaker state is usually in the form of armor that lets you use Boost without delay, along with enhancing your physical attributes. I'm not entirely sure what Cao Cao and Georg can do with their Balance Breakers, but that's why only the strongest of us will fight them." Mordred paused for a moment. "And as for True Longinus… well, it's the original god-killed Sacred Gear. Before it was made into one, it was a spear that pierced the side of Christ to end his life. Thus, it has held god-killing properties since before it became a Sacred Gear. It is an insanely holy relic. Next to it, an Excalibur fragment is no more impressive than a mass produced holy sword."

"And what will you do about the Excalibur fragments." Mordred had expected the question from the Knight of Rias Gremory. "I know you have Excalibur Ruler. Do you aim to collect the others for yourself?"

"Yes, I will," Modred answered, unconcerned by the hostility. "I'm already in possession of Excalibur Ruler, Excalibur Nightmare, Excalibur Blessing, Excalibur Destruction, and Excalibur Mimic. Once I get Excalibur Rapidly and Excalibur Transparency, I plan on using magic to fuse all seven into a single weapon. It won't let me match True Longinus, but with any luck, it will even the odds enough that I can defeat Cao Cao. But don't worry, the man behind the Holy Sword Project is in Kokabiel's retinue. if you wish to get revenge, kill him."

The resolve in the Knight's eyes was stronger than Mordred expected, but it worked out well enough.

"If we work together, what's the plan?" Rias asked warily.

"Xenovia, Irina, and Kiba should fight Siegfried. I'd suggest that you lead your peerage against Jeanne, while Sona leads hers against Heracles. Lavinia should handle Leonardo,Tobio should handle Georg, and Dulio should face Kokabiel, leaving Cao Cao to me. But with our luck, they may come in larger forces and the plan may need to adapt. Either way, try to take your opponents out quickly just in case they have reinforcements."

Rias and Sona shared a look before nodding in understanding.

"We will cooperate with you," Rias said at last. "But we need to talk more about _that_ after all this is said in done. My brother isn't the only one that needs answers."

"Fair enough," Mordred acknowledged. It came as little surprise for him that she would want more information given everything that she had found out recently. But there was one more matter that needed to be brought up.

"Dulio, Irina, Xenovia, I would be mindful of anything Kokabiel says in the upcoming conflict." They all appeared confused at his sudden words, so he continued, "From what I know of Kokabiel, he likes mind games. For three devout warriors of the Church, he may try to break your spirit by making an absurd claim like God having died in the Great War."

Out of the corner of his eye, Mordred saw Tobio shoot him a questioning look. No one else caught it, fortunately. But he wasn't the only one that looked at him knowingly. One look at Dulio and Mordred knew. Dulio knew the truth. He knew of God's death. Even still, he offered a nod and a smile.

"That sounds like what I've heard about him," Dulio agreed. "It's important that we have faith in our beliefs and not listen to the words of a heretic that has forsaken his creator."

Xenovia and Irina quickly agreed with their superior, resolve burning in their eyes.

There was no reason to let any of them be excommunicated this time.

* * *

The actual meeting with the members of the Three Factions in Kuō Town was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of preparing for the battle with Kokabiel and the Hero Faction. Setting up a medic station of sorts was definitely a priority. Fortunately, Asia Argento was not difficult to find. While she had remained human, unlike in the original timeline, she was still very much associated with Rias Gremory and her peerage.

In addition to making those arrangements, Mordred had to coordinate with Team Slash Dog. Officially, only Tobio was taking part in the battle, but the rest of Team Slash Dog would be close enough to act in the event they needed assistance.

Still, there was a fair amount to do before Kokabiel officially decided to challenge them, as he had in the previous timeline. Ideally, he wanted to track down the last two Excalibur fragments before that happened. Reforging Kusanagi had been an experiment to see if he could manage such an ordeal, but reforging Excalibur was not really something he wanted to do in the middle of a fight. It would not be quite as simple of a thing.

Mordred came to a stop in the middle of the park where his father had once lost his humanity. Standing across from him was none other than Cao Cao.

"You know, I wasn't expecting to meet the leader of the Hero Faction this soon," Mordred remarked. He looked younger than Mordred had expected, though he had only ever seen the man when he was a child, back before Trihexa had escaped its imprisonment a second time.

"How could I not pay you a visit? You've been kind enough to arrange for a battle that will forever change the world," Cao Cao laughed, though the mirth never reached his eyes. "You know, I was skeptical when it was suggested that we assist Kokabiel in his schemes. I don't desire a war among the Three Factions in the least. Those fools would involve humans in their scheming, after all. But for a chance to face one such as you, this doesn't look like such a bad idea after all."

"I could say the same to you," Mordred admitted. "Will the hero of the Holy Spear defeat the dragon, or will the dragon reduce him to ash? I guess we'll find out soon enough."

Cao Cao grinned and then it happened. True Longinus was in his hands and he shot forward. It never reached Mordred though. In the blink of an eye, a conflagration exploded between them, forcing the spear wielder to leap backwards. They were the flames of Ddraig. Not even one of the strongest humans in history could get too close to them without harm.

"I suppose it wouldn't do to have this fight now. Why don't you gather your allies and show up at Kuō Academy tomorrow at midnight? Oh, and you might want to arm yourself properly. You'll need more than fire if you want to beat me. Who knows, maybe you'll even find Valper Galilei and the last two fragments of Excalibur if you visit a certain abandoned factory on the outskirts of town. Would be a shame if you paid that murderous monster a visit when there was no one to protect him other than Freed Sellzen." Without further adieu, Cao Cao turned and walked away, a slight grin on his face.

Mordred could only shake his head once the spear wielder was out of sight. Despite everything, Cao Cao was truly as Uncle Vali had described him: a battle maniac that did not want innocent humans to suffer.

Still, this would work out well. Raising a hand, Mordred focused on the flames that he had summoned and they began to slowly recede.

"What is going on here?" Rias Gremory's all too familiar voice came from behind him.

"Oh, just had a little encounter with the wielder of True Longinus. I'd wager that Kokabiel sent him here to let us know he wants his big show down tomorrow night," Mordred said, his eyes never leaving the flames. "But more importantly, can you get your peerage ready to move. I know where the last fragments of Excalibur are. Taking them out of the equation will definitely make things easier."

"I would think this is more important that Excalibur," Rias said, her eyes narrowing. "What's your game?"

"Your Knight should obtain Balance Breaker when he faces the man behind the Holy Sword Project. Without Balance Breaker, he will be a liability in the fight with Siegfried tomorrow night."

Rias sighed but did as suggested.

* * *

The showdown with Valper Galilei and Freed Sellzen went down smoothly. By the end of the night, Mordred was in possession of the final two fragments of Excalibur and Kiba Yūto had awakened his Balance Breaker, along with absorbing the last of the holy element that Valper had extracted from the test subjects of the Holy Sword Project. Only Mordred knew, but Kiba was now in possession of Blade Blacksmith and Sword Birth. That discovery could be revealed later.

Once everything was said and done, along with everyone else being informed of Cao Cao's challenge, Mordred retreated to the underground area of Kuō Town to work a little magic.

Within the very room where Mordred had travelled back in time, he stood with an elaborate magic circle. Each of the seven fragments of Excalibur were stabbed into the ground along its perimeter.

Fusing the seven fragments into the original Excalibur would have been a simple enough matter, but it was not his intention. All he would have had to do is extract the cores of the fragments, strip away the added magic that gave them their special abilities, and use alchemy to fuse them into a single weapon. But like the Church had done so in the original timeline when they reforged Excalibur, Mordred considered the abilities of Ruler, Blessing, Nightmare, Mimic, Destruction, Transparency, and Rapidly too valuable to get rid of. The original Excalibur had possessed none of those powers. Like Caliburn and Durandal, it was merely capable of cutting through anything in the hands of the right wielder.

However, Mordred was not content to merely do what had already been done before. To that end, he stepped back and placed something else at the center of the magic circle: Excalibur's scabbard.

Clapping his hands together, Mordred spread his wings and let his magic flow through the circle. Slowly, the blades and scabbard began to dissolve into light and converge at the center of the circle. By the time it was done, Mordred's breathing had become labored. It was not so intensive that he would be weakened the next night, thankfully.

Reaching forward, Mordred lifted his new weapon. He had based its design on the Excalibur used in a visual novel and anime that had been in his father's collection. Its blade was even covered in a scabbard resembling the scabbard from that series, _Avalon_. With naught but a thought, the scabbard melted away, revealing its magnificent blade.

"I'll call you _True Excalibur_," Mordred decided as the sword changed shape once again, now resembling a worn staff. After all, what good was having a powerful weapon if everyone knew it at a glance?

At last, he was ready for the upcoming battle. Now he just needed to keep anyone on his side from dying.

* * *

Author's Note: Yeah, I didn't feel that actually including the scene where Kiba gets his Balance Breaker to be all that useful. It more or less went the way it did in canon. The differences were really just cosmetic. Still, it needed to happen. I'm trying to eliminate the issues that make the Kokabiel Arc a so boring to read and write, but sorry if you don't like how I'm going about it.

Anyways, I just reuploaded the edited versions of the previous chapters along with this chapter. I believe the typos and plot holes should be ironed out now.

So, now for the bad news. I can't say when I will be updating this story again. I feel that I need to finish this arc before I know where it should break for chapters and to ensure that the big battle flows right. To make matters worse for you all, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 comes out next week and Fire Emblem Three Houses comes out in two weeks, and I've preordered both games. So I will be a little distracted. I plan on still getting writing done, but it will not be as quickly as usual. I'd like to say that the next chapter will come out a month from now, but I can make no promises. Please be patient.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.


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